CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s son Raninder Singh appeared before the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday in a case of alleged violation of forex rules. At the Jalandhar office, sources said, Raninder was questioned by the ED officials in a 2016 case registered against him under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
He was asked to explain the alleged transaction of funds to Switzerland and creation of a trust in the tax haven of British Virgin Islands and alleged possession of undisclosed assets abroad. Raninder was questioned for six hours and recorded his statement, his counsel Jaiveer Shergill said.
The alleged possession of the properties abroad was first investigated by the I-T Department. Raninder was earlier summoned by the ED on November 6 but he skipped it for health reasons. Prior to this too, he did not arrive for questioning on October 27, claiming that he had to attend a meeting with the Parliamentary Standing Committee in his capacity as president of National Rifle Association of India.
In August, the ED had filed three applications in a Ludhiana court for the inspection of new documents filed by the I-T department against Amarinder and his son. The ED had initiated action in 2016 against Raninder on the complaint of the I-T department, which said that Raninder lied about trusts allegedly owned by him in the British Virgin Islands.
The summoning of the Punjab chief minister’s son had led to the Congress claim that it was a fallout of the Punjab government bringing out its own agri laws.