ED summons Hiranandani Group promoters in FEMA case on Monday

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Niranjan Hiranandani and his son Darshan Hiranandani, the promoters of prominent Mumbai-based real estate developer Hiranandani Group, for questioning in a foreign exchange violation case on February 26, official sources said on Sunday.

The Hiranandanis have been asked to depose at the central agency's office in Mumbai but they may choose to submit their primary responses through an authorised representative, they said. Darshan Hiranandani has been living in Dubai for the last many years.

About four premises of the Hiranandani Group in and around Mumbai were searched by the ED last week under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Apart from some foreign transactions, the agency is said to be probing the beneficiaries of a British Virgin Islands (BVI)-based trust allegedly linked to the Hiranandani Group promoters. The group has said it will cooperate with the ED in this FEMA investigation.

Official sources said the ED probe is not linked to another FEMA investigation being conducted against TMC leader Mahua Moitra, who was expelled as a Lok Sabha MP in December last year. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey had accused Moitra of asking questions in the Lok Sabha to target the Adani Group and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the behest of Darshan Hiranandani in exchange for gifts.

Dubey had also accused Moitra of compromising national security for monetary gains. Moitra has denied any wrongdoing and claimed she was being targeted as she had raised questions on deals of the Adani Group.