BARELY TWO-AND-A-HALF months after the inquiry officer in the alleged multi-crore money laundering case against one of the city-based lawyers, Mukesh Mittal, submitted an investigation status report, the case and 12 other pending complaints have now been transferred to New Delhi unit of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Highly placed officials in the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday confirmed this to Chandigarh Newsline. Incidentally, Mittal’s brother Chetan Mittal is an Additional Solicitor General and on the panel of ED. “Has the inquiry been transferred by me? It is preposterous to even insinuate that I have any role to play in the transfer of this inquiry,” Chetan told Chandigarh Newsline in response to a query sent to him. Watch Video: What's making news “In no way it is improper or inappropriate for me to represent ED in any case, which has no connection with my brother and his inquiry. As an officer appointed by the Government of India, it is my bounden duty to represent any wing of the government as directed by the Centre. It is not me who has approached ED to represent it in any case,” Chetan said. He added that he had “no role to play whatsoever in the ongoing inquiry against his brother, its proceedings, its inception, its transfer and nor will be in its conclusion”. ED’s local unit’s inquiry officer, Gopesh Byadwal, on May 3 had submitted a status report to the District and Sessions Judge, Balbir Singh, on the investigation into the money-laundering case. The Sessions Judge transferred the case to Additional District and Sessions Judge Atul Kasana. The case shall now come up for hearing on August 6. The money-laundering case in which Gopesh had submitted his investigation status report pertains to a complaint lodged by NRI Tara Singh alleging cheating and fraud by Mukesh and several others. While the reason for which the investigation into complaints against Mukesh was transferred to New Delhi was not known yet, Hardeep Garewal, a resident of Sector 32 who also has a pending complaint against Mukesh, said that he would challenge this transfer of investigation in the court of law. “We will challenge the orders of transfer of inquiry from the Chandigarh office to Delhi,” Garewal told Chandigarh Newsline. “It is surprising that when the complainants, accused and the case pertains to Chandigarh, how can there be an inquiry from New Delhi?”
