The CBI and the Income Tax department on Wednesday filed status report in the Delhi High Court on the allegations against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in a disproportionate assets case.
The report was sought by a division bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Income Tax department on charges against Singh about amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The CBI and IT department submitted their report in a sealed cover.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Virbhadra Singh, told the high court that the plea for a court-monitored probe into charges against the chief minister was not maintainable.
The court earlier held that the plea was maintainable, saying when the court itself had taken up the issue on its own, there was no question of maintainability.
Earlier, a public interest litigation on the issue was filed by a non-governmental organisation, Common Cause, but Virbhadra Singh challenged its maintainability, saying it was filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan with a motive as the state government had initiated action against him in a land allotment matter.
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The court later discharged the NGO and Bhushan from the matter and appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court on the issue.
The Centre had earlier said that a prima facie case of money laundering appears to be made out against Virbhadra Singh.
The court posted the matter for further hearing on November 4.