Mumbai Congress chief’s response sought to graft charges

MUMBAI - The Bombay High Court Thursday asked Mumbai Congress chief Kripa Shankar Singh and his family members to respond to a public interest lawsuit accusing them of amassing huge wealth and assets and links to former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, the main accused in a money-laundering case.

A division bench comprising Justice J.N. Patel and Justice S.C. Dharmadhikari directed Singh, his family members and others to file their affidavits before the court by July 15.

The petitioner, Right To Information (RTI) activist Dinanath Tiwari, has also sought the formation of a special investigation team to probe financial affairs of Singh, a powerful leader of the north Indians in the city and a former minister of state for home in the state government.

“Kripashankar Singh’s name appears in the diaries maintained by Madhu Koda,” Tiwari said in the PIL. He contended that what he has mentioned in the petition is “just tip of the iceberg” and it needs to be investigated in detail through an SIT drawing officials from different agencies.

Despite repeated attempts, Singh - a legislator and Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president - remained unavailable for comments over the developments.

Prominent lawyers Mahesh Jethmalani and Mihir Desai, who appeared for Tiwari, said that Singh’s issue requires a detailed probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax, the Crime Investigation Department and other agencies.

Besides Singh, the petition names his wife Maltidevi, his son Narendrakumar M. Singh, his daughter-in-law (and daughter of former Jharkhand minister Kamlesh Singh) Ankita Narendrakumar M. Singh, his son-in-law Vijaykumar Vijay Pratap Singh and his daughter Sunita Vijaykumar Vijay Pratap Singh as the other respondents.

“The petition has been filed in public interest for investigation into the corruption and wrongdoings by Kripa Shankar Singh and his family members. In his capacity as a political bigwig he has amassed huge wealth, completely unconnected to any known source of income. The wealth has been amassed using political clout,” Tiwari contended in the PIL.

He said that in 2006, when Singh was appointed as Congress observer for Jharkhand, he was instrumental in installing the government headed by Koda.

Koda is presently in jail along with his erstwhile minister-colleague Kamlesh Singh.

Tiwari has contended that both Singh and his wife Maltidevi have two PAN cards and listed several properties and bank accounts reportedly owned by them.

He also said that Singh allegedly failed to declare his wife’s property details when he contested the assembly elections last year.