Panama Papers case: Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan summoned by ED

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for questioning in a case linked to the 2016 'Panama Papers' global tax leaks case, officials said on Monday.

Aishwarya Bachchan, the daughter-in-law of superstar Amitabh Bachchan, has been asked to depose before the agency in Delhi.

This is not the first time the 48-year-old actor has been summoned for questioning by the ED; however, in both prior cases, she had sought more time.

The ED has been probing the case since 2016 when the global leaks came to light. It later issued notices to the Bachchan family asking them to explain their foreign remittances since 2004 under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the RBI.

"We summoned her for December 20. As of now, we haven't got any reply from her side. The summon was sent to her Mumbai residence," said a top ED official, to IANS.

The ED plans to take further legal action in the event of the actor not complying with the probe for a third time.

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The 'Panama Papers' case is a case of international scope, pursued by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. They refer to 11.5 million leaked encrypted confidential documents, published in April 2016.

The leak exposed financial and attorney-client details of over 214,488 offshore entities. Over 300 Indians from various backgrounds have been linked to this case.

• India