ED court summons 14 in Irrigation Dept scam

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 16

The special court of Enforcement Directorate in Mohali today summoned 14 accused, including Irrigation Department contractor Gurinder Singh, senior officials of the department and representatives of private companies, on January 24 in an ongoing case against them. The orders have been issued for alleged violations of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Rs 41.5 crore properties of suspect attached

• As per probe, the proceeds of the crime with regard to suspect Gurinder Singh have been found to be to the tune of Rs 70.14 crore
• The Enforcement Directorate has attached immovable properties worth Rs 41.51 crore owned by him and his wife. The attachment has been confirmed by the adjudication authority

Justice Avtar Singh has issued the summoning orders while mentioning that there are specific allegations against all accused. “This court is of the considered view that a prima facie case has been made out against all accused, including Gurinder Singh, retired Chief Engineers Harvinder Singh, Paramjit Singh Ghuman and Gurdev Singh Sian, Superintending Engineer Davinder Singh Kohli, Executive Engineers Bajrang Lal Singla, Rajinder Singh Saini, Irinder Singh Walia, Varinder Kumar Bangar and Gulshan Nagpal and a private company employee Sanil Prakash Sahu.

The court has also said that the authorised representatives of the private companies — Gwalior Polypipes Ltd, Vishwa Organics Ltd and Nisha Polymer Industries Ltd — also be summoned under Sections 3 and 4 of the PMLA.

As per the investigation done so far, the proceeds of the crime with regard to Gurinder Singh have been found to be to the tune of Rs 70.14 crore. The ED has attached immovable properties worth Rs 41.51 crore owned by him and his wife. The attachment has been confirmed by the adjudication authority.

The Vigilance Bureau had lodged an FIR in August 2017 under Sections 406, 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 477-A and 120-B of the IPC and Section 13 (1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Gurinder and some officials. The VB had found that all projects, including the lining of Kandi Canal Hydel Channel, were allotted to him and funds were also received by him. There also have been allegations of providing fake quotations from non-operating companies for inflation of the estimates.

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