Phone recordings fabricated: Nephew of suspended judge

Chandigarh, July 7

Suspended judge Sudhir Parmar’s nephew Ajay Parmar has moved a Panchkula court, claiming that the WhatsApp chats and phone recordings based on which the bribery case was filed against him, the judge, and M3M/IREO owners/promoters were “fabricated, tampered with and edited”. He moved an application for directing the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to produce the chats and recordings in the court.

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court, Panchkula, has issued a notice to the ED for reply.

Ajay Parmar submitted before the court that though no relief was given to Lalit Goyal, vice-chairman/MD of IREO group, by his uncle and the then PMLA court judge, Sudhir Parmar, “a false case on the basis of mobile conversation/chatting was registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Panchkula”, claiming that he had shown favours to get bribe.

Based on the ACB’s FIR, the ED registered a case on June 13. He said the ACB’s information was based on screenshots of WhatsApp chats between Sudhir Parmar and a source. It is alleged that Sudhir Parmar used Ajay Parmar’s phone for conversations.

“In order to hype the case, the ACB alleged that Rs 5-7 crore was demanded for helping the owners of M3M in the ED case,” he told the court. Submitting further, he said: “The ED filed a complaint against Lalit Goyal in 2022. It was not alleged in the complaint that investigation against M3M is pending and their owners are to be joined in the investigation…” He said no favour was given to Goyal, as alleged, because when he was produced, he was sent to police custody and later, judicial custody. Sudhir Parmar also dismissed his bail application.

“In order to malign the image of Sudhir Parmar, everyday news reporting is being published containing some parts of WhatsApp chats etc,” he claimed. Neither the ED nor the ACB checked the genuineness of the WhatsApp chats and phone recordings and prayed that the ED be directed to produce the material in court.

“In case, the ED is interested to get WhatsApp chats in original, they can move to a competent authority, where WhatsApp chats are stored,” he submitted.

ED gets Goyal’s 4-day custody

• IREO’s Lalit Goyal was produced before a Panchkula trial court on completion of his two-day remand on Friday. The court granted ED his four-day custody
• The Delhi High Court, on June 16, refused to interfere in the remand order of a Panchkula court against M3M group’s promoters, Basant Bansal and his son Pankaj Bansal