ED summons Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in connection with Panama Papers case

Central agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in connection with the Panama Papers case. The central agency has reportedly summoned the Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam actor in the Panama Papers case, wherein she sought adjournment on two occasions earlier.

The plea of adjournment was made to the special investigation team (SIT) appointed to investigate the case. The Panama Papers refers to a series of leaked documents that detail fraud and tax evasion by many individuals and corporate entities globally. Panama Papers were obtained originally by the German publication Suddeutsche Zeitung.

Leaked documents on tax fraud and evasion state that at least 12,000 of these fresh documents are linked to Indians. These were previously leaked in 2016 wherein ~500 Indians were named in the documents of a law firm based in Panama – Mossack Fonseca. The former Miss World’s name along with her father-in-law superstar Amitabh Bachchan featured on the list of 500 Indians who were named in the leak of 11.5 million documents that exposed their secret offshore dealings.

Besides Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan, other Indians to be named in the 2019  Panama Papers leak were PVR cinemas owner Ajay Bijli; Hike Messenger CEO and Sunil Bharti Mittal’s son Kavin Bharti Mittal; Asian Paints promoter Ashwin Dani’s son Jalaj Ashwin Dani; Shiv Khemka, SUN group patriarch Nand Lal Khemka’s son; Dr Jehangir Sorabjee, late ex-attorney general Soli Sorabjee’s son; DLF group’s KP Singh and his immediate family; Anurag Kejriwal and Mehrasons Jewellers’ Navin Mehra. Hajra Iqbal Menon, wife of Dawood Ibrahim’s once trusted aide Iqbal Mirchi also finds a mention in this leak.

The report stated that 426 Indians are under the scrutiny of the multi-agency group (MAG) set up by the central government. Black money of over Rs 1,000 crore had been detected by the MAG investigating the leads from 2016 leak.

(With inputs from Munish Pandey)