The Himachal Pradesh Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has registered 271 cases against government officials in the past two years, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said here Friday.

 

'The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has registered 271 cases against government officials and functionaries from January 2008 to Jan 31, 2010,' he said in a written reply in the state assembly.

 

'Chargesheets have been filed in various courts against 65 people and seven have been convicted so far,' said Dhumal, who also holds the home portfolio.

 

Prominent among those who figured in the list included union Steel Minister Virbhadra Singh and his wife, Pratibha Singh. They were booked Aug 3, 2009, under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

 

The complaint against Virbhadra Singh alleges misuse of his official position and criminal misconduct when he was chief minister of the state in 1989.

 

According to the police, they were booked on the basis of an audio CD released by Virbhadra Singh's political adversary Vijai Singh Mankotia in 2007.

 

In the CD, Virbhadra Singh was heard allegedly referring to some monetary transactions on the phone with Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Mahinder Lal, who is now dead. It also allegedly contained the voices of his wife and some industrialists.
 
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