ED gets Sukhpal Singh Khaira’s custody for 7 days

Mohali, November 12

A special Enforcement Directorate court today remanded Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira in seven-day ED custody in a money laundering case registered against him and others.

Khaira was arrested by the ED from Chandigarh on Thursday and was produced in the PMLA court in Mohali and sent to ED custody for a day. According to information, the ED had sought Khaira’s remand for 13 days, but Duty Magistrate Ranjan Kumar Khullar ordered seven-day remand. The next date of hearing has been fixed as November 18.

The ED officers told the court they had to examine Khaira’s bank accounts to investigate the source of the money and to whom it was given. They had to identify the persons involved in the money dealings and their statements were to be recorded, they claimed. The court was informed that in 2016, Khaira had gone to the US to raise funds for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The agency had to probe various aspects of the funds brought from there as Khaira failed to cooperate despite being issued notices four times in this regard, the ED officers told the court.

Opposing the remand, Khaira’s lawyers argued they had got stay orders from the Supreme Court after the ED issued summons in a drugs case. As the agency could not arrest him, it filed a fresh case against Khaira, which was against the law, they alleged.

Meanwhile, Mehtab Singh Khaira, his son and one of the advocates, alleged his father had been framed in false cases. He claimed in 2017, his father had been framed in an NDPS case as one of the supporters was arrested and later sentenced to 20 years in jail. He said in the present case, the Delhi Chief Minister in 2016 had asked Khaira to raise funds from NRIs abroad. He said the ED had framed his father for bringing one lakh Canadian dollars. — TNS