ED arrests Punjab CM Channi's nephew Bhupinder Singh Honey

Jalandhar, February 4

The Enforcement Directorate arrested Bhupinder Singh Honey, nephew of Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi, in early hours today in an alleged money laundering case linked to illegal mining.

Also read: Bhupinder Honey’s arrest political, says Congress on ED action

Oppsition trains gun on Punjab CM Channi, says mafia links exposed

Honey was presented in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Manjinder Singh on Friday afternoon before he was remanded in ED custody till February 8. The court allowed him to meet his family for two hours daily.

Summoned for the second time on Thursday, he was interrogated by a team of ED officials for over seven hours. Since he appeared late yesterday and did not reportedly cooperate with the officials, they arrested him under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and sought his remand. During his interrogation, Honey reportedly complained of uneasiness after which he was taken to Civil Hospital for a check-up. After his condition was reported normal by doctors, the ED sleuths put him in a lock-up around 1 am.

The questioning resumed this morning about his source of income and links with various contractors, business partners and political leaders. He was also questioned about the recovery of Rs 8 crore cash, other valuables and documentary evidence during the raids on his premises in Ludhiana and Mohali on January 18.

Honey’s lawyer Harneet Oberoi, however, claimed that his client had fully cooperated with the ED. “The ground for arrest today was his non-cooperation. He could not appear after the earlier summons on January 25 as he had Covid. We have submitted all his reports. Honey has appeared regularly and on time when he was called.”

The lawyer also mentioned that the basis of the ED’s case was an FIR lodged in 2018 at Rahon. “My client was not even an accused in that FIR.” Notably, the FIR mentions the name of Honey’s business partner Kudratdeep, whose name was subsequently removed and did not appear in the police challan copy. On the recovery of cash, the lawyer said, “The matter is sub judice.”

Meanwhile, SAD and AAP leaders held a protest over the illegal sand mining issue outside the ED office today.

Leaders of the Congress are questioning the timing of the arrest, which has come just two days ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled visit to Punjab and the expected announcement of party’s CM face. Channi is the frontrunner for the post.

More lawmakers with criminal antecedents

New Delhi: Despite the Supreme Court passing a series of directions to rid politics of criminals, the number of persons with criminal antecedents entering the legislature has witnessed a significant rise. The total number of cases pending against sitting and former lawmakers has gone up from 4,122 to 4,984 between December 2018 and October 2020, the Supreme Court was informed. Of 4,984 cases, 1,899 cases are more than five years old, amicus curiae and senior advocate Vijay Hansaria said in his latest report filed in the top court.

The court has been hearing a PIL filed by Delhi BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking expeditious trial of cases against sitting and former MPs/MLAs.

“Even after disposal of 2,775 cases after December 4, 2018, the cases against MPs/MLAs have increased from 4,122 to 4,984. This shows that more and more persons with criminal antecedents are occupying the seats in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies. It is of utmost necessity that urgent and stringent steps are taken for expeditious disposal of pending criminal cases,” Hansaria said in the report.

The amicus curiae suggested setting up a monitoring committee headed by a former SC judge or Chief Justice of a High Court to monitor the investigation of cases being pursued by Central agencies such as the CBI, ED and NIA and to evaluate the reasons for the delay in investigation.

Hansaria complained that no response had been filed by the Centre in terms of the August 25, 2021, order on expeditious investigation/trial of cases, providing of infrastructure facilities to the courts, and constitution of the monitoring committee. — TNS