Virbhadra Singh was farmed under Sections 7, 11 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and his wife was charged under Section 9 of the Corruption Act and Section 120-B of the IPC. A five-time Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, 78-year- old Singh, the Union Minister for Small, Micro and Medium Industries, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his Race Course Residence before announcing his resignation. "I have given my papers to the Prime Minister," he said. The Prime Minister has accepted his resignation and forwarded it to President Pratibha Patil, PMO sources said. Virbhadra Singh, a veteran Congress leader, said he has resigned on moral grounds. "No one asked me to quit. This my moral duty as I did not want to embarrass my party, PM or government," he told reporters. Singh's decision came a day after the Himachal court framed charges of corruption and criminal misconduct against him and his wife Pratibha Singh in a 23-year-old case, saying there was sufficient evidence to proceed against them.
The minister, who had met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi last evening, dismissed as "totally fabricated" the allegations against him. He also sought to turn it into a political battle against the ruling BJP ahead of the Assembly elections in the state later this year.
Accusing the Prem Kumar Dhumal government of levelling "concocted" against him, Singh trained his guns at the Chief Minister, describing him as the "most corrupt and biggest lier in Himachal Pradesh". Defence counsel had contended that the case was frivolous and it was registered on the basis of an audio cassette whose origin, source and authenticity were not known.
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