The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached assets of Haryana cadre retired IAS officer Murari Lal Tayal in an ongoing investigation against him and others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The total assets provisionally attached are worth several crores, including two houses and seven apartments located in Chandigarh, New Delhi, and Gurgaon, as well as a bank balance of approximately Rs. 14.06 crore.
ED took this action on June 30, but made an official announcement about it on its social media platforms Monday.
The Central agency is conducting an investigation against Tayal and others in the matter of disproportionate assets allegedly amassed by Tayal while he was serving as the principal secretary to the then-Haryana chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and during Tayal’s tenure as a member of the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
From March 6, 2005, to October 31, 2009, Tayal served as PS/CM and from November 30, 2009, till December 31, 2014, he served as a member of CCI.
ED had taken over the investigation in the case based on the First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation. In its FIR, CBI alleged that from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2014, Tayal had amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
ED had been investigating the financial records of Tayal, his wife, Savita Tayal, and son, Kartik Tayal, including their Income Tax returns and other financial transactions.
CBI registered the first FIR on August 12, 2015, regarding alleged irregularities related to land acquisition in Manesar. Based on the investigations conducted by CBI in the first FIR, the investigating agency registered a second FIR in 2017 against Tayal, pertaining to his alleged disproportionate assets.
Savita Tayal retired as the principal of a government college in 2012, and was appointed as a member of the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC). She retired from HPSC in 2016.