The Enforcement Directorate on Monday summoned actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to record her statement in connection with its probe in the Panama Papers case that revealed how offshore firms are used to stash the wealth of the world’s rich and powerful. The actress, however, won’t appear before the federal agency today after her plea for an adjournment was accepted. Aishwarya had sought adjournments on two occasions earlier.
It may be recalled that Amitabh Bachchan’s name had cropped in the Panama Papers case which is also being probed by the Income Tax Department. In 2017, the ED, which probes high-profile economic offences, had received replies from Amitabh Bachchan and his family members to notices issued to them in connection with its probe in the case. Officials in the anti-money laundering agency had said they issued notices to the Bachchan family asking them to explain their foreign remittances since 2004 under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the RBI.
Dubbed as Panama Papers, an investigation of a stockpile of records from Panamanian legal firm Mossack Fonseca by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist, had named several world leaders and celebrities who had allegedly stashed away money abroad in offshore companies.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was last seen on screen in ‘Fanney Khan’ in 2018. She will make a comeback after four long years with filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s ambitious historical fiction drama ‘Ponniyin Selvan’.
‘Ponniyin Selvan’ also stars Vikram, Karthi, Prakash Raj, Jayam Ravi, Trisha Krishnan, and Mohan Babu. It is a film adaption of writer Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Tamil novel about Arulmozhivarman, who was ultimately enthroned as Chola ruler Rajaraja Chola I.
