A Delhi court yesterday framed charges against former Lok Sabha Speaker and Union minister Balram Jakhar and four others in the Rs 65-crore hawala case.
Special judge V.B. Gupta framed charges against all the accused, including S.K. Jain, N.K. Jain, B.K. Jain and J.K. Jain, under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The accused, who were present in the court, pleaded not guilty. The court has fixed November 19 for the beginning of the trial. The charges were framed under Sections 120b of IPC (conspiracy) and others. various sections of the PCA, including 13(1) and 13(2) (public servant accepting consideration or bribe in his official capacity).
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The court relied upon circumstanial evidence cited by the CBI which alleged that the former Speakers wife, Rameshwari Jakhar, had visited London, Paris, Rome, Zurich, Geneva and Dubai from September 4, 1989 on a ticket arranged by the Bhilai Engineering Corporation owned by the Jains.
Rameshwari Jakhar had travelled with her close friend, Kulwant Kaur Sidhu and the tickets booked by M S India Travels and Transport Limited were credited in the account of Bhilai Engineering Corporation for Rs 89,928, the CBI had alleged.
Jakhars counsel, Ashok Arora later said his client would challenge the trial court decision in the high court.