Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was charged by the CBI with amassing disproportionate assets. (File photo)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached a south Delhi farmhouse with a market value of Rs 27 crore in connection with its money laundering probe against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and others.
The latest move by the department comes close just three days after the
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge-sheet against Mr Singh, his wife and others, accusing them of amassing assets worth Rs 10.3 crores that it alleged was 192 percent more than what they could have honestly earned.
Now, the Enforcement Directorate has issued a provisional order attaching the farmhouse located in south Delhi's Mehrauli area under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The agency said the book value of the asset is Rs 6.61 crore but its market value is "worth Rs 27 crore and is in the name of "Maple Destinations & Dreambuild".
The Delhi High Court, today, adjourned the Disproportionate Assets matter to April 6 after it refused to Mr Singh's plea seeking to quash of the CBI case.
The ED action and the CBI charge-sheet come just months before the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections and could come as an embarrassment for the 82-year-old Congress veteran.
While the BJP demanded the resignation of Mr Singh following the CBI charge-sheet, the Congress has ruled out his removal. Abhishek Singhvi had said last week that there was "nothing to worry about" in the case as it was done out of "political vendetta" and Singh will fight it out and emerge victorious.
The ED had filed a criminal case under PMLA against the Mr Singh and others in 2015 based on a CBI complaint.
(With inputs from PTI)