New Delhi: Punjab Vigilance Bureau has alleged that cash deposits of a firm with ties to senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia “spiked” multifold between 2007 and 2009, and that Rs 161 crore in “unexplained cash” was deposited into the firm’s accounts during the same period. The agency has also alleged that the firm received Rs 141 crore through “dubious foreign investments from Cyprus and Singapore”.
The bureau alleged that cash deposits of Saraya Industries, a Gorakhpur-based firm with ties to Majithia, tripled from Rs 40 crore in the financial year 2006-07 to Rs 121 crore in the next financial year, when Majithia had already become a cabinet minister in the then Parkash Singh Badal-led Punjab government. The cash deposits further swelled in the next financial year 2008-09, to Rs 165 crore.
On Thursday, making these submissions in its remand application before a Mohali court, the bureau sought a 15-day remand for Majithia, the brother-in-law of Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal. Majithia was arrested from his Amritsar residence Wednesday, after simultaneous raids across 25 locations linked to him by bureau sleuths and the special investigation team (SIT) probing a drugs case against him.
Facilitated by Majithia, more than Rs 540 crore was laundered through illicit channels into the bank accounts of companies, a spokesperson with the vigilance bureau alleged Wednesday. The spokesperson broke the amount down: cash deposits to the tune of Rs 165 crore, Rs 141 crore routed from offshore entities in Singapore and Cyprus, and financial statements of Saraya Industries accounting for an additional credit of Rs 236 crore, without making any disclosures.
On the other hand, legal counsels of Majithia—advocates H.S. Dhanoa, Arshdeep Singh Cheema, and Arshdeep Singh Kler—argued that their client resigned as director of the firm, Saraya Industries, and that his role was limited to that of a shareholder, with roughly 11 percent ownership of the company, as inherited from his grandfather.
“The SIT formed to probe the drug case filed three affidavits in the Supreme Court, giving the same set of allegations in the present case. However, as their efforts to present the money as proceeds from drugs did not bear fruit, the same set of allegations has been reproduced as a case of disproportionate assets against my client,” Cheema told ThePrint.
Adding, “He (Majithia) is neither an office bearer nor a beneficiary of the funds received by the company.”
The vigilance bureau, presenting grounds for Majithia’s arrest, alleged that he, along with his family members, used as many 200 bank accounts in different banks to recoup the Rs 540 crore and that it wanted to take him into custody to ascertain details of the same.
“The investigation has also revealed ownership or beneficial interest in properties, investments, and other financial instruments in the name of third parties, who appear to be benami holders, acting at the instance of the accused,” the bureau alleged in the remand application, a copy of which ThePrint has seen. The agency further argued that since it had to seize and examine the registers of the Gorakhpur-based firm before confronting Majithia with the entries in the registers, his custodial interrogation was essential.
According to the vigilance bureau, the suspicious funds Saraya Industries received from “dubious foreign investments” from Cyprus and Singapore—Rs 141 crore—was settled for Rs 53 crore, less than half the amount, later. Asserting that Cyprus is known as a “hub of money swindlers”, the vigilance bureau further said, “The accused is required to be interrogated to unearth his illegal connections with such foreign entities. The nature, purpose, and legitimacy of these transactions remain unsubstantiated.”
The bureau further asserted that to conduct a proper investigation and to unearth the facts, interrogation was essential and that it would help corroborate the financial trail and beneficiary links. The Mohali court then ordered the remand of Majithia till 1 July, adding that the bureau should produce him before it on 2 July.
“At this stage, the court is required to see whether the custodial interrogation of the accused is required for the investigation to reach its just conclusion or not. Various discrepancies and questionable transactions have surfaced which require thorough investigation. The grounds upon which the police remand has been sought are well founded. The answers to the questions posed by the investigation agency can only be found out during custodial interrogation,” on duty Judicial Magistrate 1st Class Kirandeep Singh observed in the order.
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