PIL against Virbhadra on corruption charges

A non-governmental organisation (NGO) on Wednesday filed a petition in the Delhi high court seeking a CBI probe into the alleged corruption conducted by Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh when he was the union steel minister.

The public interest litigation (PIL), filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), said that there were several documents such as income tax returns and affidavits filed during nomination papers linking the Congress leader to "dubious transactions" and investments involving large sums of money when he was in the central government.

The PIL stated that even after repeated representation made before the government, no action had been taken against Virbhadra.

Social activist Prashant Bhushan said in the petition that detailed complaints were made to the chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) and the Central Bureau of Investigation on January 11. He contended that nothing had been done so far.

"In 2012, in order to explain the unaccounted money, Virbhadra Singh filed revised IT returns for the assessment year 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12, showing revised agricultural income, which was an increase of 18 to 30 fold of income in the three years. The total increase in agricultural income amounted to R6.1 crore," the petition said.

The PIL sought direction to the CBI and the income tax department to initiate an investigation under the supervision of the court into the charges of "money laundering, corruption, possession of disproportionate assets and criminal misconduct against Virbhadra Singh."