Two days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his son, Raninder Singh, in a 2016 Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) case, the additional director-level officer heading the Jalandhar zonal office has been transferred with immediate effect.
As per orders issued by the Union ministry of finance on Thursday evening, additional director Ravi Tiwari, a 2009-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, who had been posted to Jalandhar in September 2023, has now been shifted to Chennai. Another IRS officer, Dinesh Pachauri, has been appointed to the Jalandhar post.
The federal agency had summoned Captain Amarinder to appear in person on February 13, while Raninder was called on Thursday. The ED probe stems from a November 2016 complaint alleging tax evasion through the concealment of foreign assets and the possession of undisclosed property abroad.
While the official reason for the reshuffle remains undisclosed, the timing sparked speculation, given that Captain Amarinder is currently a member of the BJP’s national executive body.
When contacted, Tiwari termed the move a routine administrative exercise. “It is a regular affair; ED officers usually have a tenure of 2-3 years at one station,” he said.
On Thursday, Raninder sought an exemption from the summons, citing the health of his father, who underwent a knee replacement surgery at a Mohali hospital recently. Captain Amarinder has also requested an adjournment on medical grounds.
Meanwhile, a senior official said, “The summons were issued by another official, but the entire process was monitored and cleared by the top brass of the Jalandhar ED office.” Under FEMA, Indian citizens are prohibited from holding foreign assets or bank accounts without prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Issue raked up politically
The summons triggered a political row, with opposition leaders questioning the timing of the action in a decade-old case.
Reacting to the development, AICC general secretary in-charge for Punjab, Bhupesh Baghel, remarked on Thursday that the Congress high command was open to considering Amarinder’s return to the fold, claiming he had heard the former CM was “feeling suffocated” in the BJP.
Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh alleged that central agencies were being used as tools for political pressure. “The moment Captain Amarinder raised pointed questions about his standing in the BJP and the party’s disregard for Punjab’s interests, central agencies swiftly clamped down to muzzle him,” Pargat alleged.
Amid the legal heat, senior BJP leaders, including Haryana minister Anil Vij and Punjab BJP organisational general secretary Manthri Srinivasulu, visited Amarinder at the Mohali hospital over the past two days.
In recent interviews, Amarinder had described the Congress as more “consultative”, while calling the BJP’s decision-making “rigid.”
Summons after HC allows access to documents
The summons followed a legal breakthrough for the ED after the Punjab and Haryana high court allowed the agency to inspect records maintained by the income tax department.
In November 2016, the I-T department had filed a prosecution complaint against the duo under Section 277 of the Income Tax Act, alleging Amarinder was the beneficiary of foreign assets held through offshore entities and HSBC Geneva bank accounts. The department sought details regarding Raninder’s links to the Jacaranda Trust.
The ED subsequently moved the Ludhiana court to inspect documents received from French authorities under the Indo-French Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC). Though the father-son duo challenged this, contending it violated treaty confidentiality, the high court ruled in favour of the ED in September 2025.
In its 14-page judgment, the HC permitted the ED to inspect the records but cautioned that the information must not be disseminated publicly unless permitted by law. The court maintained that as a statutory authority under FEMA, the ED is entitled to examine judicial records for its probe.
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