ED files charge sheet against ex-HP CM Virbhadra Singh, wife

The Enforcement Directorate today chargesheeted in a Delhi court former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, accusing him of projecting around Rs 7 crore proceeds of crime as agricultural income in connivance with his wife and others and invested them into purchasing LIC policies.
In the charge sheet filed before Special Judge Santosh Snehi Mann for the alleged offence of money laundering, the ED also arrayed Singh's wife Pratibha Singh and Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent Anand Chauhan, against whom a charge sheet was earlier filed by the agency, as accused.
Besides 83-year-old Singh and his 62-year-old wife and Chauhan, the others named are Universal Apple Associate owner Chunni Lal Chauhan and two other co-accused, Prem Raj and Lawan Kumar Roach.

All the six have been charge sheeted under the relevant provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
"The proceeds of crime acquired by Virbhadra Singh were projected as agricultural income with the help of Anand Chauhan, LIC agent and Chunni Lal Chauhan and were invested into insurance policies purchased in the name of Singh and his family members and a major part of it, after criss-crossing through various bank accounts found way into acquisition of immovable property," the ED said in the final report filed through Special Public Prosecutor N K Matta.
It said, "The proceeds of crime generated through criminal activities by the politician were handled and managed by Anand Chauhan who actively assisted him in laundering of the same by projecting it as untainted."

The court will take up the final report for consideration on February 12.

The ED claimed it has recorded the statements of several witnesses and investigated bank transactions.
Anand Chauhan, arrested on July 9, 2016 by the ED under relevant provisions of the PMLA, was granted bail on January 2 in the money laundering case.
In a separate case filed by the CBI in connection with the matter, Singh, his wife and Chauhan were chargesheeted along with others.
The couple, who have not been arrested so far, and the other accused are facing trial in the CBI case.
The other accused in the CBI case are Chunni Lal Chauhan, stamp paper vendor Joginder Singh Ghalta, managing director of Tarani Infrastructure Vakamulla Chandrasekhar, and co-accused Lawan Kumar Roach, Prem Raj and Ram Prakash Bhatia.

The CBI had claimed that Singh had amassed assets worth around Rs 10 crore which were disproportionate to his total income during his tenure as a Union minister.
The matter was transferred by the Supreme Court to the Delhi High Court which, on April 6, 2016, asked the CBI not to arrest Singh and directed him to join the probe.
On November 5 last year, the apex court transferred Singh's plea from the Himachal Pradesh High Court to the Delhi High Court, saying it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, but "simply" transferring the petition "in the interest of justice and to save the institution (judiciary) from any embarrassment".

The ED had filed a separate case based on the CBI FIR.