ED summons Punjab ex-CM, Raninder: Foreign assets case back to haunt Amarinder, son

Raninder, meanwhile, wrote on X: “As law-abiding citizens, we will cooperate fully with every investigation agency. We have absolute faith in the rule of law and are confident that truth and justice will prevail”.

The case dates back to 2016, when Amarinder was in the Congress party. The IT department had then said that it had “received credible information from foreign authorities through official channels that the accused is the beneficiary of foreign assets maintained and controlled through foreign business entities… including bank accounts with HSBC Private Bank (Suisse S.A, Geneva, Switzerland”.

The complaint filed on November 18, 2016 in a Ludhiana court detailed the data that was received by FT&TR (Foreign Tax and Tax Research) division from 2011, first from France and, subsequently, from Dubai, Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands.

The tax chase led authorities from the HSBC account to various entities incorporated by Raninder, namely Jacaranda Trust and the Mulwala Holding Limited where the former CM was also a beneficiary holder.

Amarinder was also found to be an alleged beneficiary of foreign bank accounts maintained by the HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA, Geneva and HSBC Financial Services (Middle East) Limited Dubai.

The I-T Department had filed a prosecution complaint (chargesheet) against the father-son duo before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Ludhiana in 2016 under section 277 (prosecution for making false statements or producing false accounts/documents) apart from some sections of the IPC. The I-T department had accused them of tax evasion, concealment of foreign assets and suppressing facts and filing false statements on oath. It also alleged that Jacaranda Trust was the beneficial owner of a string of BVI off-shore entities. These were Chillingham Holdings Limited; Allworth Venture Holdings; Limerlock International Limited and Mulwala Holdings Limited.

At that time, Amarinder had called the complaint “malafide and politically motivated.” He had said the I-T Department had “failed to dig out any proof’’ of his alleged foreign assets.

The ED had subsequently moved an application before the magistrate court for inspection of documents filed by the tax department, or, in the alternative, seeking directions to the complainant (I-T Department) to provide a copy of those documents as it was probing the said case under the FEMA.

The magistrate court allowed the ED plea but it was challenged by the Singhs before the court of additional district judge of Ludhiana. The additional district court upheld the magistrate court order.

The Singhs then filed an appeal against this order before the Punjab and Haryana high court stating the I-T records contain “secret” information given by the French Republic to the Government of India and there was a “specific bar” on providing any such information to a stranger under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between the two countries.

In September 2025, the High Court dismissed the petitions and upheld the order of the additional district judge saying it was “well-reasoned” and did not suffer from any infirmity or error of law.

The court had ruled that there was no legal bar on permitting the ED to access records for investigation, holding that such inspection does not violate the Indo-French Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). The court emphasised that the ED, as a statutory authority, is entitled to examine judicial records when probing offences under law.

The court allowed the ED to inspect the complaint records but added that the information cannot be made public without proper legal permission.