The CBI on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking urgent hearing on its plea challenging the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s order to grant protection against possible arrest and other relief to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu agreed to hear on October 26 CBI’s two petitions against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court had on October 1 restrained the CBI from arresting Singh and his wife in the DA case, but had allowed the enquiry in the matter to proceed.The case pertains to 2009-12 when Virbhadra was Union Steel Minister. It was alleged that he took bribe from a steel company which was evident from the purchase of insurance policies for over Rs 5 crore. Virbhadra had revised his IT returns for the three years in 2012, showing increased income from agriculture to the extent of around Rs 5 crore in a bid to justify the purchase of insurance policies.
