COURTESY HT NOV 27
Notice to ED on petition seeking quashing of case information report
HT Correspondent
letterschd@hindustantimes.com
Chandigarh : The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday put the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on notice on a plea seeking quashing of enforcement case information report (ECIR) registered by the agency in the alleged Ludhiana City Centre scam.
Acting on the plea of Delhi resident Chetan Gupta, who was also probed in the case, the high court bench of justice Raj Mohan Singh has asked ED to submit as to why proceedings of the ECIR should not be stayed, pending petition before the high court. ED’s response has been sought by December 3.
Gupta has sought quashing of the ECIR registered by the ED on the 2007 FIR by state Vigilance Bureau. The court was told that the petitioners and other accused have been discharged on November 27, 2019, by a special judge, vigilance, Ludhiana, and this order has attained finality. Hence, the ECIR should be quashed.
The petitioner has also sought quashing of the August 5 show-cause notice slapped by the ED for not attending summons issued to him on earlier occasions and imposition of fine of Rs 1 lakh for the same.
He has also challenged subsequent summoning notices of August 13 to appear before the ED on September 3, and October 15 notice of appearing before the agency on November 4 and 5. Another notice challenged in the plea is of November 9 in which he has been told to appear on November 24 and 25, otherwise warned that the ED would proceed against him ex-parte.
The case was registered during the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) tenure in 2007. It was alleged that a private builder was favoured during the Amarinder’s previous term as the Punjab’s chief minister.
Touted as one of the biggest projects in the state, the City Centre plan was rolled out in 2006. The complex was supposed to have shopping malls, multiplexes, apartments and a helipad. The Vigilance Bureau had initially submitted a 100-page chargesheet but later filed a closure report, saying a re-investigation found no evidence against Amarinder Singh, his son Raninder Singh, son-in-law Raminder Singh and 33 others