A Delhi court yesterday decided to frame charges against former Lok Sabha Speaker and Union minister Balram Jakhar in the Rs 65 crore hawala case saying there was sufficient evidence apart from the Jain diaries against him.
Special judge V B Gupta, in his 189-page order, said prima facie, I find sufficient grounds on record to frame charges against Jakhar, SK Jain, BR Jain, NK Jain and JK Jain in the case under Sections 120 (B),7, 12 and 13 of the IPC.
The court also decided to frame charges against Jakhar under Section 13-1 (D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and said formalities in this regard would be completed on September 23. The Delhi High Court, while discharging BJP president LK Advani and former Union minister VC Shukla from the hawala case had ruled that the entries in the Jain diaries were not admissible as evidence in the eyes of law.
The court relied upon circumstantial evidence cited by the CBI which alleged that former speakers wife Rameswari Jakhar had visited London, Paris, Rome, Jurich, Jeneva and Dubai on September 4, 1989 on a ticket arranged by Bhillai Engineering Coporation, a company of the Jains.