ED conducts searches in a case involving former DPIIT Secretary Ramesh Abhishek

File picture of former DPIIT secretary Ramesh Abhishek, whose premises have been raided by the Enforcement Directorate
| Photo Credit: Kamal Narang

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday searched the premises linked to Ramesh Abhishek, the then-secretary of Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) and then-chairman of the Forward Markets Commission (FMC).

In February, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had also conducted searches after instituting the First Information Report (FIR), in which Mr. Abhishek’s daughter Vaneesa Abhishek has also been named, on a reference from the Lokpal on December 20, 2023.

Mr. Abhishek, a 1982-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official, had taken the charge as FMC chief on September 21, 2012. In February 2016, he became the DPIIT Secretary and retired in July 2019.

The Lokpal had ordered CBI probe into receipt of huge amounts as professional/consulting fee from various entities or organisations with whom Mr. Abhishek had official dealings while he was Secretary DPIIT or headed FMC. The investments made in an immovable property at Delhi’s E-72 Greater Kailash Part-II and an alleged sudden increase in the business income in a short period of time also came under the scanner.

It has been alleged that after retiring, Mr. Abhishek had earned 119 times the last drawn salary within a short time period and had business links with 16 entities with which he had dealings when he was in service.

The Lokpal had also asked the ED to determine the value of Greater Kailash property. “ED should also enquire whether there was any conflict of interest in terms of remuneration received by the public servant (respondent) and/or his relatives. During this enquiry, it may also be ascertained whether the public servant (respondent) was required to inform relevant authority, the cost of redevelopment of the property bought by him in GK-II and whether the appropriate authority was informed or not,” it said in its order.

Based on the initial ED report, the Lokpal had on January 3, 2023, asked the agency for further inquiry. Mr. Abhishek had challenged the Lokpal orders in the Delhi High Court, which in May 2023 refused to intervene.