Ed May Grill Kishore Chhabria In Swc Case

The Shaw Wallace Fera violation case has assumed an interesting twist as the enforcement directorate plans to summon Manu Chhabrias estranged younger brother Kishore Chhabria to present himself for questioning .

Kishore Chhabria, was the managing director of the company between 1988 and 1992. As the finances of this period are also under scrutiny, he will be asked to answer queries relating to possible contraventions of the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act.

According to sources, Kishore Chhabria will be questioned on alleged unauthorised raising of cash from the liquor and beer divisions and issuing of cheques to various trusts and receiving cash from them. It is suspected this cash had found its way out of the country through hawala route.

 

These allegations need to be verified. The statement of the younger Chhabria is expected to provide a clearer picture.

Meanwhile the ED had summoned Manu Chhabrias Mumb-ai-based brother-in-law Niranjan Thakur on January 29.

He, however, was unable to present himself before the authorities following a court order which restrains him from leaving Mumbai.

Thakur had been arrested last year in relation to the case and had been questioned many times by the directorate in Mumbai. The department in Calcutta had wanted him in the city for further interrogation. It is believed the directorate in Calcutta will be writing to their counterparts in Mumbai to inquire about Thakurs arrival in Calcutta.

Interrogations relating to this case are taking place everyday. The directorate has interrogated former Shaw Wallace employee Jolly Bhargava, currently the managing director of Whyte and Mackay, and V K Sabherwal vice president (Liquor IV) recently, among others.

At the moment, the directorate in Calcutta is making enquiries about the nationality of the Dubai-based chairman of SWC, Manu Chhabrias passport which it suspects is not Indian, but British.

The directorate is also awaiting the law ministrys opinion on whether Manu Chhabria could be summoned under Fera. Last December, he had rejected outright the EDs summons for interrogation in India on November 27, on the plea that he was a non-resident Indian.

However, there is a lull as far as interrogations in the ITC case are concerned. While there has been no interrogations of late, the authorities are presently scanning documents and statements of officials in the directorate. Information in the form of papers seized from the Indian Lead Tobacco Division by the Customs department in Guntur are being received by the department almost on a daily basis.