Court acquits resident in 12-year-old forgery case

Chandigarh, July 12

A local court has acquitted a resident of Sector 49, Rahul Mehra, in a 12-year-old forgery case after the prosecution failed to prove the charges. He had been booked under Sections 419, 420, 467,468,471 and 120-B of IPC following a complaint by property dealer Dinesh Dureja of Panchkula on August 31, 2011.

The complainant had accused Mehra and some other persons of duping him of Rs 1.4 crore.

Dureja alleged that Mehra had persuaded him to purchase a house in Sector 19-A, Chandigarh, for Rs 7 crore. The former and a friend, Parmod Gupta, entered into an agreement to sell in 2009 and paid a sum of Rs 1.4 crore as advance. However, the person supposed to sell the house failed to have the sale deed registered in his favour.

The accused was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) on August 29, 2013, and finally arrested on May 8 last year.

Hunarveer Sharma, the counsel for the accused, argued that the latter had been falsely implicated in the case.

After hearing the arguments Chandigarh Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Puneet Mohinia acquitted the accused in the case.

The court also noted that witnesses, including the complainant himself, did not even take the witness box for a deposition.