Ranchi, 24 July (Hindustan Times). The Jharkhand High Court on Monday directed the release of the passport of Umashankar Malviya, the then private secretary of former minister Bhanu Pratap Shahi, implicated in a money laundering case. On his return from abroad, he will have to submit his passport to the lower court. This instruction was given by the court of Justice Gautam Kumar Chaudhary.
He requested the court to release the passport from the last week of December to the last week of March, which was accepted by the court. Umashankar Malviya’s plea for release of passport was rejected by the court of Special Judge of ED, which he has challenged in the High Court. It has been said in the petition that his daughter is studying law at Hull University in London, so he wants to visit her in London. In such a situation, an order should be given to release his passport deposited in the ED court. Advocate .l Kumar Sinha and Advocate Nirupama appeared on behalf of the petitioner.
Umashankar Malviya is accused of helping in money laundering of illegal assets worth crores of rupees acquired by former minister Bhanu Pratap Shahi. The CBI had registered an FIR on the basis of case number 9/2009 registered in the vigilance station regarding disproportionate assets of the then MLA Bhanu Pratap Shahi. The CBI had registered a disproportionate assets case against the then MLA Bhanu Pratap Shahi considering the period from March 13, 2005 to July 24, 2009 as the check period.
