The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha for questioning in connection with a money laundering case in which both are accused.
The agency had asked her to appear next week before the investigating officer of the case.
The ED move to summon Pratibha comes in the backdrop of Singh's plea before the Delhi High Court seeking relief from any coercive action by the agency. In his petition, he expressed apprehension that the ED might arrest him on the basis of alleged disclosure statement of insurance agent Anand Chauhan, who was recently arrested from Chandigarh in connection with the case.
The agency has filed a case under criminal provisions of Prevention of Money laundering Act after taking cognisance of a CBI FIR in a related case in September last year.
Earlier, the ED hasd attached assets worth about Rs 8 crore belonging to the Chief Minister. The ED had also conducted searches in this case last year in Delhi, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
The agency is probing allegations against Singh and his family members of having amassed wealth to the tune of Rs 6.1 crore between 2009 and 2011, disproportionate to his known sources of income, while serving as the Union Minister of Steel.
In its case, the CBI had named Singh, Pratibha Singh, Chauhan and his brother C l Chauhan for violations under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to the CBI case, Singh allegedly invested Rs 6.1 crore in life insurance policies in his and his family members' names through Chauhan claiming this money to be his agricultural income during the 2009-11.