Charges framed against Rao in MPs bribery case

The designated Central Bureau of Investigation court on Thursday formally framed charges against former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao and 19 others in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MPs bribery case. The accused said they were not guilty and preferred to face trial.

With this, Rao becomes the first former Indian prime minister to be tried in a corruption case.

Rao will now stand trial in two criminal cases -- charges have already been framed against him in the $ 100,000 Lakhubhai Pathak cheating case. The former prime minister has been discharged in the St Kitts forgery case.

Fixing three consecutive days from November 4 for trial, Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke asked the CBI to issue summons to the witnesses, numbering about 250, to depose in the court. The judge, however, refused to implicate Congress president Sitaram Kesri in the case.

Rao and the other accused, including former Union ministers Buta Singh, Ajit Singh and Satish Sharma and former chief ministers Bhajan Lal of Haryana and M Veerappa Moily of Karnataka, were present in the court.

Bharihoke earlier rejected Rao's plea that framing of charges should be deferred until his special leave petition in the Supreme Court is disposed of. The SLP challenged the Delhi high court order upholding the trial court's decision to frame charges against him in the case.

Earlier, counsel S N Pande pleaded that Kesri should be implicated in the case in view of approver Shailendra Mahato's confessional statement. Mahato had said that Kesri, who was party treasurer in July 1993 when the conspiracy was hatched to defeat the July 28, 1993 no-confidence motion against the Rao government, was aware that bribes were being paid to the members of Parliament -- four of the JMM and seven of the breakaway Janata Dal (Ajit) group.

Rejecting the plea, Bharihoke said he had already quashed three similar petitions, including the one by accused Abhay Pratap Singh and Anadi Charan Das who have since filed a revision petition in Delhi the high court.

The other accused in the case are former Union minister Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, JMM leaders Shibu Soren, MP, Suraj Mandal and Simon Marandi, former Karnataka ministers H M Revenna and Ramalinga Reddy, liquor barons from that state, D K Adikeshavalu and Thimme Gowda, and former breakaway JD(A) MPs Ramsaran Yadav, Roshan Lal and Haji Ghulam Mohammed.

UNI

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