Court to consider charge sheet against Virbhadra on April 24

Special court adjourns hearing in case to April 24

April 12, 2017 12:56 am | Updated 12:56 am IST - New Delhi

New Delhi: Union Minister Virbhadra Singh addressing the media after submitting his resignation papers to the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Tuesday. Singh quit on moral grounds after being slapped with charges of conspiracy and corruption in a 23-year-old case. PTI Photo by Manvender Vashist(PTI6_26_2012_000050A)

New Delhi: Union Minister Virbhadra Singh addressing the media after submitting his resignation papers to the Prime Minister in New Delhi on Tuesday. Singh quit on moral grounds after being slapped with charges of conspiracy and corruption in a 23-year-old case. PTI Photo by Manvender Vashist(PTI6_26_2012_000050A)

A Special court on Tuesday posted on April 24 for consideration the Central Bureau of Investigation’s charge sheet in a disproportionate assets case against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, his wife and others.

Additional Sessions Judge Virender Kumar Goyal adjourned the hearing on the charge sheet to the next date.

Disproportionate assets

The CBI has accused Mr. Singh of amassing assets worth ₹10.30 crore between May 2009 and June 2012 when he was the Union Steel Minister. The amount is allegedly 192 per cent of his total income from known sources during the period.

The other accused who have been charge-sheeted are LIC agent Anand Chauhan, Tarini Infrastructure managing director Vakamulla Chandrashekhar, Universal Apples Associates (Himachal Pradesh) owner Chunni Lal Chauhan, Prem Raj, Lavan Roach, Ram Prakash Bhatia, and a stamp vendor.

The agency alleged that the LIC agent helped Mr. Singh invest unaccounted-for-money in life insurance policies. In his annual returns, Mr. Singh later showed the additional amount as income from the sale of apples from his orchard.

An MoU was later prepared showing the LIC agent as the orchard manager. Prem Raj and Lavan Roach were shown as witnesses.

The agency further alleged that invoices claiming sale of apples to Universal Apples Associates were created. However, the Income-Tax Department did not buy the explanation, after which an inquiry was launched and the CBI registered the case in September 2015.

Mr. Chandrashekhar and Ram Prakash have also been accused of helping Mr. Singh prepare fake papers to “legitimise” disproportionate assets.

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