Explain lapses: Punjab and Haryana high court slams ED for 'slipshod' probe in IREO case

CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana high court has termed ED probe against IREO and its functionaries in money laundering cases "slipshod and unprofessional" and asked the agency's director to explain the lapses. HC took cognizance of the fact that the accused company's real estate was "conveniently allowed to be disposed of".

Justice Kuldeep Tiwari passed the orders after his bench's attention was drawn to a November 6 order passed by a coordinate bench of HC, wherein one Gulshan Babbar approached HC seeking cancellation of IREO MD Lalit Goyal's bail in money laundering and cheating cases in a real estate project.

HC sought the entire record of the ongoing investigation from the ED director and asked him to file a personal affidavit explaining reasons for lapses, "besides the action proposed by him, in case he finds dereliction on the part of his officials/officers". Wing Commander Natarajan Monie (retd) had filed a PIL, saying he had applied for a plot in Project IREO Waterfront in Ludhiana, but it was abandoned in 2016 by the company directors, after allegedly diverting and siphoning off around Rs 300 crore.