Even as the case of fraud and money laundering against Amar Singh in Kanpur has become a hot potato for the UP police, the principal secretary of the UP Assembly has declined to conduct an inquiry, ordered by the Election Commission, into alleged concealment of assets in the affidavit that the Samajwadi Party leader had filed before the Rajya Sabha election in November 2008.

In the last eight months, Pradeep Dube, who was returning officer for the Rajya Sabha elections, has twice told the Commission he is not the right person to inquire into the matter since the complaint against Singh is unrelated to the election process.

In his latest communication sent on Friday, Dube cited the Representation of People Act to tell the Commission that as the RO, he was on deputation with the EC only from the time of notification of election till the results were declared. At present, he was under the administrative control of the Speaker of the UP Assembly and without his permission, he could not look into the matter.

In December 2008, the US media carried reports that Singh had contributed Rs 43 crore to the Clinton Foundation. In February 2009, one Vishwanath Chaturvedi filed a petition before the Election Commission, alleging Singh had concealed information about his assets in his affidavit filed at the time of contesting the Rajya Sabha election.

Chaturvedi said Singh had disclosed assets worth Rs 37 crore, but had made a donation of Rs 43 crore to the Clinton Foundation. He also raised the question whether Singh had taken the mandatory permission of the Reserve Bank of India, which is mandatory for such transactions.

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