Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh on Sunday said he was willing to resign from the post if asked to and emphasised that he had informed the Centre of the facts, following reports of his alleged links with Pune-based Hasan Ali Khan, who is facing charges of tax evasion.
Mr. Iqbal Singh, told The Hindu here on Sunday evening, that as a Member of Parliament in 1997 he wrote a letter to External Affairs Minister I.K. Gujral to expedite the passport to one H. Khan, following a request from a person known to him.
Identifying the person as Amlendu Pandey, the Lt. Governor said the former provided a receipt number of the application for the passport stating that Mr. Khan needed the travel document urgently since he had to visit his ailing brother.
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“I wrote to Mr. Gujral and got a response that he had forwarded the request to the passport office in Patna,” Mr. Iqbal Singh said, adding he was yet to hear from the Enforcement Directorate. Having seen news reports that the ED wanted to question him on this issue, “I decided to stay put in Delhi,” he said.
Mr. Iqbal Singh said he also wrote to the Home Minister that he did not have any policeman by the name of Ashok Kumar, as reported in a section of the media.
The Enforcement Directorate is investigating Hasan Ali Khan's role in alleged money laundering/hawala operations.
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Sources in the Directorate said here that the agency, in the process of investigation, came across prima facie evidence against Mr. Iqbal Singh and would like to record his comment on it. The agency has written a letter to the government seeking clearance from authorities to send such a request to Mr. Iqbal Singh, since he was serving as a Lt. Governor.