Top ED officer seeks his removal alleging harassment

New Delhi (PTI) - An Enforcement Directorate(ED)
officer against whom 50-odd complaints have stacked up in the
last few weeks wants to pull out of the ongoing probe into the
2G spectrum scam.
Pushed to the wall, Rajeshwar Singh, an Assistant in
the ED, in an official communication of June 7 requested ED
headquarters to allow him to recuse himself from the probe
mid-way saying he is fed up with the increasing number of
"frivolous" complaints against him.
The saga of complaints against Singh began ever since
he commenced the probe into the 2G scam and matters relating
to the Sahara group.
A spokesman of Sahara, when contacted, did not want to
comment on the matter.
As part of his probe, Singh has till now effected ten
complaints involving Rs 7,000 crore under (Foreign Exchange
Management Act) FEMA against various telecom firms involved in
the 2G case and he is in the process to begin similar action
under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Singh had earlier knocked at the doors of the Supreme
Court where he filed a contempt case against the chief of the
the Sahara group Subroto Roy which led to a notice being
issued against him and two others.
A spate of complaints against Singh have been received
at the head office of the ED after they were referred by the
Finance Ministry.
The allegations against him relate to various matters
from the mode of funding of his marriage to his possessing 86
telephone connections in the last ten years.
Finance Ministry sources said a bulk of the 50-odd
complaints against Singh have been received by it from various
central ministries in the last few days and they have been
forwarded to the ED headquarters for "appropriate action".
The Indian Supreme Court has listed Singh's case for
hearing on August 4 after it has asked the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) to probe the allegations and other charges
against him.
The officer has now filed a rejoinder in the apex
court stating the 50 odd complaints against him are based on
"forged" documents and that perjury action should be taken
against those who are harassing him and placing false
documents in front of the court.
"As the ED officer is probing the high-profile and
sensitive 2G case, it is important the charges are
investigated and he is allowed to probe the case without
fear," a senior Finance Ministry official, who handled these
complaints, said.
According to the contempt plea filed by Singh in front
of the apex court's bench monitoring the 2G case, his
harassment and intimidation began when he, as the
investigating officer in the 2G case, began probing Sahara's
alleged investments and purchase of shares in telecom firm
S-Tel.
The CBI, which is probing one complaint by Singh and
his colleague Sharad Choudhary that two Sahara journalists
sought to bribe them for undue favours, has told the apex
court on July 11 that it was probing the allegations from all
angles and was looking for independent witnesses and
documents.
The court on May 6 had said there was a prima facie
case against Roy and two journalists-- Upendra Rai and Subodh
Jain -- of Sahara India News Network for interfering with the
2G probe and had issued notices for contempt.
The bench on the same day suo motu issued contempt
notices and took serious note of the fact that after summons
were issued to the CMD of Sahara group under the Prevention of
Money Laundering Act, from February 2 onwards, "crude methods"
were allegedly adopted to terrorise, intimidate and blackmail
Singh.
The bench had also banned Sahara India News Network
and its sister concerns from publishing and broadcasting any
story or programme relating to Singh.
Singh has since asked the apex court to issue
appropriate directions to the Sahara group and others so as to
permit him to carry out investigations "without any
interference" from anyone in the 2G case.