Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has deferred his face off with Enforcement Directorate (ED). Having declared to depose before ED sleuths on April 13, Singh changed his plan to go to Delhi at the eleventh hour.
Sources in the CM office have attributed the change in CM’s plan to visit Delhi to the declaration of holidays on April 13 and 14.
Sources said Singh had planned to leave for Delhi on Wednesday and his schedule for Delhi visit had also been finalised but the schedule was changed as centre has declared two days holiday on April 13 and 14.
Having cancelled his schedule for visiting Delhi, the Chief Minister went to Bhima Kali shrine and offered his prayers in the temple. He is scheduled to remain in Shimla constituency only on Thursday also. With new schedule for Thursday Singh will attend public meeting and interact with public in rural Shimla.
On Tuesday, Singh himself had confirmed that he had got ED summons and he would be visiting ED headquarters at Delhi to depose of before the ED authorities. ED has sought Virbhadra Singh’s presence in the case registered against him under Prevention of Money laundering Act. He was told to have been summoned in ED headquarters on April 13.
Enforcement Directorate had lodged FIR under the Prevention of Money laundering Act against Virbhadra Singh and others after the CBI booked him in a case of Corruption and Disproportionate Assets in September, 2015. CBI has already filed a charge sheet against Virbhadra Singh in CBI court and Virbhadra Singh has been alleged of creating financial assets of around Rs 10-crore, disproportionate to his known sources of income. The agency has accused him of making assets, 192 percent disproportionate to his total income during his stint as a Union Minister.
Besides Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, Chunni lal Chauhan, Joginder Singh Ghalta, Prem Raj, Vakamulla Chandrasekhar, lawan Kumar Roach and Ram Prakash Bhatia have also been included in the charge-sheet of CBI.