Court directs the trial of former HC judge in DDA land scam

A Delhi court on Saturday, May 24, framed charges against former High Court judge Shameet Mukherjee and others in a Delhi Development Authority land scam case. Similar cases have also been registered against former DDA Vice Chairman Subhash Sharma.

Additional Sessions Judge I K Kochhar indexed charges against Mukherjee, Sharma, and three others under Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and criminal conspiracy under Criminal Procedure Code, as there were prima facie evidences against all of them for allegedly taking unwarranted benefits.

The former judge has been accused for allegedly favouring a co-accused in a decission, who had involved in a land scam and was in legal battle against the land owning authority.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who first arrested Mukherjee on April 30, 2003 after conducting a raid in his office cited evidence of audio tape of conversation among the accused.

The agency in a charge-sheet filed in 2005, had said that it scanned calls of Mukherjee and other accused to come to the conclusion.

CBI alleged that the former judge abused his official position by granting an interim stay in favour of Vinod Khatri, a hotel owner which did not allow DDA to reclaim the land required to widen Aruna Asif Ali Road.

Besides, the court had also summoned former DDA Vice-Chairman Subhash Sharma, DDA middleman Dharam Vir Khattar and private secretary to a former DDA Vice-Chairman Ashok Kapoor in connection to this and some other land scams.