Court allows ED to inspect Ludhiana City Centre scam file

A court Thursday allowed the Enforcement Directorate to inspect the case file of a Rs 1,100- crore alleged Ludhiana City Centre scam in which Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, his son and son-in-law were amongst the accused.

Last year, Punjab's Vigilance Bureau filed a closure report in court, saying its reinvestigation of the alleged scam found nothing to substantiate the charges.

The case, alleging that a private builder was favoured during Amarinder Singh's previous term as CM, was filed in 2007 when the SAD-BJP government was in power.

Final arguments on the closure report are likely to be heard by District and Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh on November 15.

Meanwhile, the ED in its application filed in the same court has said it should be permitted to inspect the judicial record as a separate probe in a money laundering is still pending.

The ED had filed a separate FIR under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2013 on basis of the FIR filed by the Vigilance Bureau.

The court has now fixed November 3 for the ED to inspect the case file.

The Vigilance Bureau had initially submitted a 100-page charge sheet but later filed a closure report, saying a re-investigation found no evidence against Amarinder Singh, his son Raninder Singh, son-in-law Raminder Singh and 33 others.

Its FIR had earlier alleged that a Delhi-based company Today Homes was favoured in 2003 for executing the Ludhiana City Centre project.

Touted as one of the biggest projects in the state, the City Centre plan was rolled out in 2006.

The complex was supposed to have shopping malls, multiplexes, apartments and a helipad.