Enforcement Directorate arrests Choudhary Lal Singh as court rejects anticipatory bail plea
Jammu, November 7
Former J&K minister Choudhary Lal Singh was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate here on Tuesday, hours after an anti-corruption court dismissed his anticipatory bail application in a money laundering case, officials said.
Singh was under investigation as part of the case lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against an education trust run by his wife and former legislator Kanta Andotra.
Relief for wife, daughter
- The court extended the interim anticipatory bail plea of Kanta Andotra, wife of Choudhary Lal Singh, and her daughter Kranti Singh till November 30. They have been asked to cooperate with investigators.
- They are being probed in connection with irregularities pertaining to land issuance for an education trust, run by Kanta Andotra.
Earlier in the day, an anti-corruption court dismissed his anticipatory bail application in Jammu. Kanta Andotra and her daughter Kranti Singh were given relief by the court as their interim anticipatory bail was extended till November 30. The court directed both to cooperate with the investigators.
Special judge Bala Jyoti passed three separate orders after hearing the arguments put forth by special public prosecutor Ashwani Khajuria, appearing for the ED, and advocate Rajesh Kotwal for the applicants.
Singh, his wife and daughter had moved separate applications in the court on November 1 seeking pre-arrest bail for the alleged commission of offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The court granted them interim bail and sought a detailed response from the ED.
Singh, the chairman of the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party, was questioned by the ED on Saturday and Monday. Last month, the ED had conducted searches in Jammu and its adjoining areas as part of the money laundering probe against the education trust of Andotra and a former government official in connection with alleged irregularities in land purchase to set up the trust. The agency had raided about eight premises in Jammu, Kathua and Punjab’s Pathankot on October 17 in the case against RB Educational Trust, its chairperson and a former revenue official, Ravinder S.
The money laundering case stems from an October 2021 chargesheet filed by the CBI in this case which alleged criminal connivance in the issuance of land between January 4 and 7, 2011, without mentioning details in respect of violation of the ceiling limit of 100 standard kanals imposed under Section 14 of the Jammu and Kashmir Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976, thereby giving undue pecuniary advantage to trust.
Based on this, the trust acquired multiple pieces of land of about 329 kanals vide three gift deeds, the CBI chargesheet claimed.
The judge said, “Having heard and regard to the nature of allegations and gravity of the accusation, the investigating agency must be given sufficient time in conducting an effective investigation.” (With PTI inputs)
