ED, CBI to hand over papers to Virbhadra in laundering case

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Thursday succeeded in Delhi high court in getting copies of documents in the money-laundering case lodged against him, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agreeing to hand them over to him.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, appearing for ED, had earlier opposed Singh’s request before Justice Ashutosh Kumar, who had questioned whether someone can be divested of their legal right to have the documents. The judge had also said if the documents sought are not given to Singh, the same cannot be used against him during trial. He had sought to know the reasons for the ED’s refusal to supply the documents and said the agency will have to convince the court about its stand.

Mehta, however, said the ED was ready to give Singh an enforcement case investigation report (ECIR) registered to probe into money-laundering and corruption charges against the Himachal Pradesh CM.

Taking note of ED counsel’s submissions, the court closed Singh’s application, observing that since the agency has decided to supply the documents, nothing else remains to be decided. 

Besides ED, the CBI, represented by Additional Solicitor General PS Patwalia, also told the court that it will provide a photocopy of the documents seized from Singh’s office and residence by Friday.

To this, the court directed Singh to personally approach the CBI and collect all documents. 

It added that any authorised representative on behalf of Singh could also collect the documents sought by him.

The court, however, made it clear that in future if Singh felt that he has not received all the documents, he will have to move an appropriate application before the special judge, who was seized with the issue.

“The grievances of the petitioner (Singh) stands satisfied as of now, so the petition is accordingly disposed of,” the court said.

Singh, in his plea, had sought a direction to CBI and ED to provide him with the ECIR and all documents seized by them during the searches in his residence and office.

On September 26 last year, CBI had conducted raids at 11 places including Singh's residences in Delhi and Himachal, on the day his daughter was getting married. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Singh, had said the documents were needed for answering questions likely to be put by the ED.