New Delhi: A Delhi court has framed charges against former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitley and two others in an alleged corruption case of 2001 relating to a defence deal.
This means that Ms Jaitley's trial will now begin.
The case has been investigated by the CBI. In its chargesheet filed in 2006, the agency alleged that Ms Jaitley had accepted a bribe of two lakhs in 2001 in exchange for persuading then Defence Minister George Fernandes to award the contract of hand-held thermal imagers to a company named West End International. The firm, however, was fictitious - news portal Tehelka.com had conducted a sting to expose corruption in defence deals and had set up a fake firm named West End that was on paper head-quartered in London. Though Mr Fernandes was not accused of accepting a bribe, he quit as Defence Minister. The BJP-led NDA was then in power at the Centre.
Ms Jaitley and former party colleagues Gopal Pacherwal and retired Major General S P Murgai will be tried for criminal conspiracy and with accepting a bribe in exchange for trying to influence a public servant.
The three accused have pleaded not guilty. In the past, Ms Jaitley has said that Tehelka's tapes were doctored; though some labs that tested the video tapes said that was not the case.
This means that Ms Jaitley's trial will now begin.
The case has been investigated by the CBI. In its chargesheet filed in 2006, the agency alleged that Ms Jaitley had accepted a bribe of two lakhs in 2001 in exchange for persuading then Defence Minister George Fernandes to award the contract of hand-held thermal imagers to a company named West End International. The firm, however, was fictitious - news portal Tehelka.com had conducted a sting to expose corruption in defence deals and had set up a fake firm named West End that was on paper head-quartered in London. Though Mr Fernandes was not accused of accepting a bribe, he quit as Defence Minister. The BJP-led NDA was then in power at the Centre.
The three accused have pleaded not guilty. In the past, Ms Jaitley has said that Tehelka's tapes were doctored; though some labs that tested the video tapes said that was not the case.
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