CBI files chargesheet against Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh, wife in disproportionate assets case

The CBI had registered the case on September 23, 2016, under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh.

New Delhi: In huge trouble for the Congress, the Central Bureau of Investigatinon (CBI) filed chargesheets against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh, and others in the disproportionate assets case on Friday.

The latest development comes after the Delhi High Court today dismissed a plea by Virbhadra Singh seeking the cancellation of an FIR registered by the CBI against him and his wife in a corruption case.

Singh has sought directions from the court to quash the FIR registered against him and his wife under Sections 13(2) and 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 109 of IPC by the CBI on September 23, 2015 here and urged the court to summon records of the preliminary inquiry and the FIR.

Virbhadra and his wife Pratibha Singh have claimed in their plea that there was no order, direction or judgment by any court that had authorised the CBI to inquire, investigate or register regular cases and exercise jurisdiction in the territory of Himachal Pradesh.

The chief minister had contended in his plea that the raids on his private residence and other premises were conducted with "malafide intentions and political vendetta" by the central investigating agency.

He has alleged that CBI had overstepped its jurisdiction in filing the case as the cause of action did not arise in the territory of Delhi.

Singh also claimed that the permission of the state government and Home Department were not taken before raiding the residence of a sitting chief minister.

The CBI had contended that the allegations against Singh in the case are "very serious" as a huge amount of money was involved and the state government has shown "over anxiety" in protecting him.

The CBI had registered the case on September 23, 2016, under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the Chief Minister, his wife Pratibha Singh, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan and an associate Chunni Lal.

The case was registered after a preliminary inquiry found that Virbhadra Singh, during his term as a Union minister from 2009 to 2012, allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.