Black money case: ED examines Puducherry Lt Guv in Raj Bhawan
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday questioned Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh in Raj Bhawan on his role in expediting issuance of passport to Pune stud-farm owner Hasan Ali Khan.
By ET Bureau | Updated:
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Monday questioned Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh in Raj Bhawan on his role in expediting issuance of passport to Pune stud-farm owner Hasan Ali Khan. The questioning is likely to continue on Tuesday.
Khan is under the scanner in a black money case being heard by the Supreme Court and faces charges of money laundering and tax evasion.
The questioning, which began on Monday afternoon, is being held as per modalities finalised by the Union Home Ministry and cleared by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) last week. An ED team from Chennai reached Puducherry five days ago to set up the logistics for questioning the sitting lieutenant-governor. The entire process is required to be videographed.
Though details of what transpired are not known, Singh is likely to have reiterated his stand that he had recommended expediting of Khan's passport on humanitarian grounds without verifying his case and merely going by the request of his acquaintance Amlendu Pandey. The Puducherry LG had earlier argued that his letter recommending faster issue of passport to Khan was written in 1997, when Hasan Ali was not a known name. Singh was embroiled in controversy after his name cropped up during the questioning of Bihar-based Congress leader Amlendu Pandey over the Hasan Ali passport issue.
In a letter to Home Minister P Chidambaram last week, Singh claimed he asked for the passport to be granted on humanitarian grounds because he had been told that Khan needed to travel abroad urgently to visit his ailing brother.
As for the allegation that one of his PSOs, Ashok Kumar, had collected the passport for Hasan Ali from Patna, Singh has denied the same. "I distinctly remember that I did not send anyone to collect the passport from Patna of Khan or for that matter of anyone else. As far as I remember, there was no constable by the name of Ashok Kumar as PSO with me during 1997 or at any time before or after that," the Puducherry Lt governor said in the letter.
Khan is under the scanner in a black money case being heard by the Supreme Court and faces charges of money laundering and tax evasion.
The questioning, which began on Monday afternoon, is being held as per modalities finalised by the Union Home Ministry and cleared by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) last week. An ED team from Chennai reached Puducherry five days ago to set up the logistics for questioning the sitting lieutenant-governor. The entire process is required to be videographed.
Though details of what transpired are not known, Singh is likely to have reiterated his stand that he had recommended expediting of Khan's passport on humanitarian grounds without verifying his case and merely going by the request of his acquaintance Amlendu Pandey. The Puducherry LG had earlier argued that his letter recommending faster issue of passport to Khan was written in 1997, when Hasan Ali was not a known name. Singh was embroiled in controversy after his name cropped up during the questioning of Bihar-based Congress leader Amlendu Pandey over the Hasan Ali passport issue.
In a letter to Home Minister P Chidambaram last week, Singh claimed he asked for the passport to be granted on humanitarian grounds because he had been told that Khan needed to travel abroad urgently to visit his ailing brother.
As for the allegation that one of his PSOs, Ashok Kumar, had collected the passport for Hasan Ali from Patna, Singh has denied the same. "I distinctly remember that I did not send anyone to collect the passport from Patna of Khan or for that matter of anyone else. As far as I remember, there was no constable by the name of Ashok Kumar as PSO with me during 1997 or at any time before or after that," the Puducherry Lt governor said in the letter.
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