Shimla:
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who has been accused of favouring a private firm, today filed defamation cases against BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Prem Kumar Dhumal.
Mr Singh also named Mr Dhumal's son Anurag Thakur in a case that accuses these leaders of dragging his name.
Mr Jaitley had last month written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking probes by the CBI and the Income Tax department into allegations that the Himachal Pradesh chief minister had entered into a quid pro quo deal with a private sector power generation firm. He cited documents to allege that in May last year, the power company had allegedly transferred Rs. 1.2 crore into Mr Singh's bank account. A month later, the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet approved an extension to the company's hydro-electric power project in the Chamba district.
Another Rs. 60 lakh was also allegedly transferred in the chief minister's wife, Pratibha Singh's bank account in February 2013.
Mr Jaitley also alleged that Mr Singh's wife and son were made shareholders in another firm floated by the owner of the power generation company in return for the favours.
Mr Singh rejected the charges, and threatened to take the BJP leaders to court. He offered to face a probe into the allegations by the state Lokayukta.
The 79-year-old Himachal Pradesh chief minister, however, suffered more embarrassment on January 7 when the IT department slapped a notice on him, asking him to explain the four-fold increase in his income from the apple orchards owned by him.
The sharp jump in his income was entered by Mr Singh in the revised return filed by him in 2012.