Pondy LG to be questioned at Raj Niwas for Hasan link
Apr 19, 2011, 02.26am IST TNN/ Vishwa Mohan
NEW DELHI: Puducherry lieutenant governor Iqbal Singh, who is under scanner for his alleged links with the controversial Pune stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan, will be questioned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) at Raj Niwas in the Union Territory sometime this week.
Instead of calling him for questioning, the ED officials will rather visit Raj Niwas and record his statement. The entire proceeding will be video-graphed in what would be an one-off such episode when a Central probe agency will visit a sitting LG and record statement in connection with some investigation.
Ruling out the possibility of Singh’s resignation\removal at this juncture, top government sources said such a question would arise only if ED finds something more than what Singh himself clarified in a written explanation of his act to Union home minister P Chidambaram last week.
Singh, who met Chidambaram again on Monday, had admitted recommending expeditious issuance of passport to alleged tax evader Khan, but claimed he did not know him. He, in his letter to the home minister last week, had said he did not verify the application of Khan for issuance of passport which contains a specific clause that the officer/MP verifying knows the person personally. “As I did not know him, hence I did not verify the application,” he had said.
As part of procedure, the home ministry, meanwhile, sought Prime Minister's Office’s (PMO) nod to ED's plea to record a statement of Singh.
Sources said the clearance of PMO was expected soon as the LG himself declared his intention to face the ED sleuths to make a statement on the controversial issue. Singh, who met Chidambaram second time in the last four days, is learnt to have told the home minister as well about his willingness to be quizzed by the probe agency, they added.
Immediately after Singh met him on Monday, Chidambaram said, “The LG is willing to make a statement to the Enforcement Directorate. The home secretary is working out modalities”.
ED sought permission to record Singh’s statement after his name cropped up during questioning of a Bihar Congress leader Amlendu Pandey.
In his letter to Chidambaram, Singh clarified that Pandey had approached him on April 4, 1997, for issuance of passport from Patna for someone (Hasan Ali Khan) on compassionate grounds. Pandey told him that the brother of the person seeking passport was seriously ill abroad and the presence of the applicant for looking after him was extremely essential.......http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JQkcvMjAxMS8wNC8xOSNBcjAxMDAx&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Apr 19, 2011, 02.26am IST TNN/ Vishwa Mohan
NEW DELHI: Puducherry lieutenant governor Iqbal Singh, who is under scanner for his alleged links with the controversial Pune stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan, will be questioned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) at Raj Niwas in the Union Territory sometime this week.
Instead of calling him for questioning, the ED officials will rather visit Raj Niwas and record his statement. The entire proceeding will be video-graphed in what would be an one-off such episode when a Central probe agency will visit a sitting LG and record statement in connection with some investigation.
Ruling out the possibility of Singh’s resignation\removal at this juncture, top government sources said such a question would arise only if ED finds something more than what Singh himself clarified in a written explanation of his act to Union home minister P Chidambaram last week.
Singh, who met Chidambaram again on Monday, had admitted recommending expeditious issuance of passport to alleged tax evader Khan, but claimed he did not know him. He, in his letter to the home minister last week, had said he did not verify the application of Khan for issuance of passport which contains a specific clause that the officer/MP verifying knows the person personally. “As I did not know him, hence I did not verify the application,” he had said.
As part of procedure, the home ministry, meanwhile, sought Prime Minister's Office’s (PMO) nod to ED's plea to record a statement of Singh.
Sources said the clearance of PMO was expected soon as the LG himself declared his intention to face the ED sleuths to make a statement on the controversial issue. Singh, who met Chidambaram second time in the last four days, is learnt to have told the home minister as well about his willingness to be quizzed by the probe agency, they added.
Immediately after Singh met him on Monday, Chidambaram said, “The LG is willing to make a statement to the Enforcement Directorate. The home secretary is working out modalities”.
ED sought permission to record Singh’s statement after his name cropped up during questioning of a Bihar Congress leader Amlendu Pandey.
In his letter to Chidambaram, Singh clarified that Pandey had approached him on April 4, 1997, for issuance of passport from Patna for someone (Hasan Ali Khan) on compassionate grounds. Pandey told him that the brother of the person seeking passport was seriously ill abroad and the presence of the applicant for looking after him was extremely essential.......http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JQkcvMjAxMS8wNC8xOSNBcjAxMDAx&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
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