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New Delhi
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given his nod to the Enforcement Directorate to question Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh for his alleged links with suspected money launderer Hasan Ali Khan.
The Home Ministry had sought the PMO’s clearance to the ED’s request to record a statement of Singh in connection with his recommendation for issue of passport to Ali.
Sources said the PMO gave its approval on Tuesday. Singh will be quizzed at his office in Puducherry, Raj Niwas, later this week. This is the first case when investigative agencies have been allowed to question such high Constitutional authority.
“It is not questioning. Examining is the right word. ED officials would seek his version on the issue,” explained a source. The ED was forced to initiate action against the L-G, after the Supreme Court’s intervention.
The ED wanted to question Singh after his name cropped up during questioning of a Bihar-based Congress leader Amalendu Pandey in connection with the recommendation for expeditious issuance of passport to Ali, a Pune stud farm owner who is facing tax evasion and money laundering charges.
Singh has admitted to have recommended expeditious issue of passport to Ali but claimed he never knew him. In 1997, Singh was a Rajya Sabha MP from the Congress when he helped expedite Ali’s fake passport application from a Bihar address.
The Lt Governor had met Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday and explained his position on the matter. “The L-G is willing to make a statement to the ED,” Chidambaram had later stated.
In a letter sent to the Union Home Minister last week, Singh had claimed that he asked for the passport to be granted on humanitarian grounds because he had been told that Ali needed to travel abroad urgently to visit his ailing brother.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given his nod to the Enforcement Directorate to question Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Iqbal Singh for his alleged links with suspected money launderer Hasan Ali Khan.
The Home Ministry had sought the PMO’s clearance to the ED’s request to record a statement of Singh in connection with his recommendation for issue of passport to Ali.
Sources said the PMO gave its approval on Tuesday. Singh will be quizzed at his office in Puducherry, Raj Niwas, later this week. This is the first case when investigative agencies have been allowed to question such high Constitutional authority.
“It is not questioning. Examining is the right word. ED officials would seek his version on the issue,” explained a source. The ED was forced to initiate action against the L-G, after the Supreme Court’s intervention.
The ED wanted to question Singh after his name cropped up during questioning of a Bihar-based Congress leader Amalendu Pandey in connection with the recommendation for expeditious issuance of passport to Ali, a Pune stud farm owner who is facing tax evasion and money laundering charges.
Singh has admitted to have recommended expeditious issue of passport to Ali but claimed he never knew him. In 1997, Singh was a Rajya Sabha MP from the Congress when he helped expedite Ali’s fake passport application from a Bihar address.
The Lt Governor had met Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday and explained his position on the matter. “The L-G is willing to make a statement to the ED,” Chidambaram had later stated.
In a letter sent to the Union Home Minister last week, Singh had claimed that he asked for the passport to be granted on humanitarian grounds because he had been told that Ali needed to travel abroad urgently to visit his ailing brother.
