ED notice to HC judge’s wife, ASG in money laundering case

The ED is planning to summon both Gupta and Mittal to record their statements after it peruses their responses.

The ED has also sent notices to others, including the ASG’s wife Monika and his advocate-brother, who has emerged as the main accused in an ongoing investigation into a clutch of cases.

Earlier, the ED had frozen a bank account that Chetan Mittal holds jointly with his brother. The ED had also frozen an account in which the ASG’s wife is a signatory.

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As ASG, Chetan Mittal has been appearing regularly for the ED in the drug money laundering case, in which the name of Punjab’s Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia has also cropped up.

On April 25, The Indian Express had first reported about Justice Hemant Gupta making a phone call to a senior ED officer who is the investigator in the alleged money laundering case.

During the call, for which he used his secretary Dalbir Singh’s cellphone, Justice Gupta, who is the third senior most judge in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, asked the ED officer about the probe into RMC Printers Private Limited — a company in which his wife was a director till June 27, 2009.

According to the ED notice, investigations have shown that Mukesh Mittal entered into a number of clandestine property deals — on the basis of agreement to sell, general power of attorney, questionable Lok Adalat decrees — ensuring that he and his family/ associates became owners of the properties.

Alka Gupta’s name, according to the ED, appears in some of the companies, properties, documents and GPAs, giving rise to suspicion of multiple financial transactions with Mittal Advocates, his family members and his associates.

“It is also revealed that you are involved with Mittal Advocates and their associates in some clandestine business activities, due to which you have acquired beneficial interest in various properties without paying any consideration,” says the ED notice to Alka Gupta.

Alka Gupta could not be contacted.

When contacted, Chetan Mittal acknowledged that he had received the ED notice. “It is to inform you that in pursuance to the investigation by the ED relating to my brother, Mukesh Mittal, I had received a notice whereby documents were demanded for completing the investigation in the case. The entire listed documents have already been provided long time back. None of the properties which are under investigation, on the basis of which allegations have been made against my brother, involves me or my wife. I have even offered to provide all the information necessary for the purpose of investigation. It seems that certain vested interests are creating rumour and confusion against me,” he said.