New Delhi: Election commissioner Ashok Lavasa’s son Abir Lavasa is reportedly being probed by the Enforcement Directorate under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, along with the company he is the director of. In recent months, four members of Ashok’s family have been put under investigation by central agencies.
Ashok had dissented when the Election Commission cleared Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the charge of making illegal campaign speeches during the Lok Sabha elections.
The ED is looking into Abir’s alleged violations of foreign exchange laws, according to the Indian Express. The newspaper reports that Rs 7.25 crore raised by the company – Nourish Organic Foods Pvt Ltd – in March 2019, from Mauritius-based investor Saama Capital, is the focus of the investigation.
Abir became director of the company in November 14, 2017. He was asked to appear before the investigating officer in the case last week, Indian Express reports.
“There is a probe in connection with investments in the company where (Abir) Lavasa is a director. The company was loss-making and yet received heavy investments at a premium. So we want to question (Abir) Lavasa about it,” the newspaper quotes an ED official as saying.
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Abir confirmed to Indian Express that he had received the summons and said the company was cooperating fully with the investigation. He did not comment any further.
Last week, it was revealed that the Centre had asked vigilance officers at public sector undertakings whether Ashok had exercised any “undue influence” during his time at the power ministry, with respect to companies in which his wife Novel Singhal was a director.
Three members of Ashok’s family – his wife, sister and son – have also been under the income tax department’s scanner in recent months. Singhal, a former banker, received a notice from the I-T department in August over her income. Singhal said then that she “had paid all taxes due and disclosed all income earned from pension, and all other sources as per the law”.
It was later revealed that Lavasa’s sister and son are being probed by the tax department. Shakuntala Lavasa, his paediatrician sister, and his son Abir also received similar notices from the I-T department in August.
Election commissioner Lavasa had dissented at least five times against majority decisions during the campaign for the 2019 general elections a few months ago. Most of these cases were related to complaints against prime minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct.
His daughter, Avny Lavasa, in her position of Leh’s district election officer, had accused army officials of indulging in electoral malpractice around the same time.