Hooda adopting delaying tactics: ED to Special Court

Bhartesh Singh Thakur   
Tribune News Service   
Chandigarh, July 15   

Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday told a Special Court in Panchkula that former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is adopting dilly-dallying practice “to prolong the matter” in the case related to “illegal” plot allotment to M/s Associated Journals Limited (AJL).   

The investigating agency added that Hooda has been trying to “stall the proceedings” of this case “without there being any legal and sustainable reason or ground”.  

ED made these comments in a reply before the trial court concerning Hooda’s application, moved on July 5, for the postponement of arguments on framing of charges, post the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a criminal revision filed in the CBI’s AJL case. He claimed that both the ED and CBI cases, related to plot allotment to AJL, are connected matters.   

Besides Hooda, M/s AJL had also moved an application for postponement of arguments on charge, post the completion of investigation by ED.   

In CBI’s case, the trial court has framed the charges but the high court has stayed the further proceedings.   

Regarding the pending investigation, ED told the court on Thursday that against Hooda, the inquiry has been completed so the court could pursue against him. It was further submitted that Hooda has been trying to intermingle the issue of the CBI chargesheet with the ED case.   

The court was told that the chargesheet filed by the CBI “has nothing to do with the investigation carried out by ED and both the proceedings are independent”.   

The CBI registered the case under section 120-B (for criminal conspiracy) and 420 (for cheating) of the IPC and under section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which are the schedule offences, and thereafter the ED initiated investigations.   

On whether CBI’s case and ED’s matter are connected, the ED submitted that section 44 of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PML) Act says that the jurisdiction of the special court while dealing with the offence during investigation, enquiry or trial shall not be dependent upon any orders passed in respect of the same scheduled offence, and the trial of both the sets of offences by the same court shall not be construed as joint trial.   

It was further added that the offence under section 3 of PML Act is standalone and once the investigation is initiated under the Act, there is no necessity of conviction or chargesheet under the predicate offence.   

The “act and omission” on the part of Hooda causing substantial loss to state exchequer and further causing a wrongful gain to AJL is a separate offence as mentioned under PML Act and as such proceedings in the CBI case has no bearing on the ED case, said ED.   

Hooda has also approached the HC for quashing the ED case against him. The HC on July 14 had ordered the special court to defer the proceedings beyond August 18.   

The next date before trial court has been fixed for August 24.  

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