A Delhi Court has framed money laundering charges against former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala in connection with a disproportionate assets case.
Special Judge Vikas Dhull framed charges against Chautala under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
"Charge for the offense under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 framed today against the accused in pursuant to order dated 13.01.2021 to which accused pleaded not guilty and claimed trial," the court said.
The court has listed the matter for February 27 for the recording of evidence in the matter. Special Public Prosecutor NK Matta, was representing Enforcement Directorate while counsels Harsh K Sharma and Anil Rathee appeared for Chautala.
The investigating agency has alleged that Chautala has accumulated assets which were disproportionate to his known sources of income while working as a public servant (MLA/CM of Haryana) during the period from May 24, 1993, to May 31, 2006.
The investigation concluded that the accused had acquired disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 6,09,79,026 which were beyond his known and disclosed sources of income.
The investigation under the PMLA was initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has alleged that disproportionate assets generated by the accused while working as a public servant were proceeds of crime and tainted funds which were used in the purchase of properties by the accused.
The court observed that "Prima facie material is on record to show that proceeds of crime, generated by the commission of a scheduled offense under Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act were used by accused in the purchase of three properties and prima facie material is on record to show that Rs.95 Lakh was utilized in the construction."
Chautala is also serving a jail term in a teachers' recruitment scam case.
On January 22, 2013, a trial court had sentenced 55 accused in the teachers' recruitment scam case. Among those convicted were 82-year-old Chautala's then political adviser Sher Singh Badshami, the then Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Vidya Dhar, IAS, and then Primary Education Director Sanjiv Kumar, besides 50 others.
A total of 55 persons were convicted under the JBT scam for illegally recruiting 3,206 teachers in Haryana in 2000.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
