Court grants bail to LIC agent in Virbhadra case

A Delhi court on Tuesday allowed the bail plea of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent Anand Chauhan in a disproportionate assets case involving Himachal Pradesh former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann granted the bail to Chauhan, asking him to furnish a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of like amount.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a chargesheet against Chauhan and accused him of investing Virbhadra Singh's "tainted" money amounting to Rs 5.14 crore in LIC policies purchased in Virbhadra's name and those of his family members, including wife Pratibha Singh.

Chauhan was arrested from Chandigarh on July 9, 2016, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the ED alleged he was not cooperating in the probe.

A probe had allegedly found that during his tenure as the Union Steel Minister from 2009 to 2011, Virbhadra Singh had accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore in his name and in the name of his family members, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

--IANS

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