CAT extends stay till January 20

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 16

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) today further extended the stay on the application challenging repatriation orders of Gurnam Singh, Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in Chandigarh, to January 20.

Filing its reply today, the ED stated that he was not investigating the Rs 6,000 crore Punjab drug money laundering racket. It was held that his demand was wrong and “extension beyond five years is only given where it is absolutely necessary in public interest.”

It was further added that he was seeking six years extension which needed the permission of a minister and Singh had dealt with his extension case without proper sanction by a competent authority.

Earlier, a fresh application was filed by Singh after withdrawing another application wherein he had sought extension of his tenure in the ED.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had recently dismissed a writ petition filed by a human rights organisation — Lawyers for Human Rights International (LFHI) — which had challenged his repatriation.

Singh’s application stated he was appointed as an Assistant Director, ED, on deputation for three years. He was relieved by the lending organisation i.e. the Central forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh, on December 30, 2011.

Recently, a team led by Singh seized Rs 2.18 crore after searches in a suspected hawala case in Chandigarh. It was further said in a petition that he was handling several important cases under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Besides, there are cases of recovery of penalty being probed by him.