New Delhi:
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) reportedly wants to question Pondicherry Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Iqbal Singh, in Hasan Ali case.
Sources have told NDTV that the ED is writing to Home Ministry to seek permission. It suspects that the Lieutenant Governor had helped Ali get a fake passport and claims to have statements and documentary evidence on this, sources added.
Pune-based stud farm owner Hasan Ali Khan is believed to have 8 billion dollars in black money in foreign bank accounts. He was arrested last month and moved to Mumbai from Pune, where he is known for his lavish cars, homes, horses and parties.
(Read: Who is Hasan Ali?)He has been asked to pay Rs 70,000 crore as a penalty for tax evasion, but his lawyer claims that he is innocent of all the charges against him.
He is currently lodged in the high-security Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. A sessions court will hear arguments on his bail application today.
The Supreme Court has referred repeatedly to the government's inaction against Mr Ali in the context of a case that it is hearing on black money. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by former Law Minister Ram Jethmalani among others asks the government to recover crores of unaccounted-for money that has been stashed in foreign banks by Indians.