National

Hindujas' plea to quash framing of charges

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI JULY 10. The three Hinduja brothers — S.P. Hinduja, G.P. Hinduja and P.P. Hinduja — facing prosecution in the Bofors gun pay-offs case today urged the Delhi High Court to quash the framing of charges against them by the trial court.

Their counsel, Ram Jethmalani, submitted before Justice J.D. Kapoor that there was nothing on record to connect them with the deal as the gun had been chosen for purchase by the Army, and the Price Negotiating Committee under the then Defence Secretary, S.K. Bhatnagar, had agreed to it.

He submitted that the decision to go for the gun was taken by the then Army Chief, K. Sunderji, after he had sought and received "uninfluenced" opinion of senior Army officers.

He said the framing of the charges was also bad in law as the case was registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, which required recording of evidence before framing charges in a corruption case.

The Special Judge for CBI cases, Prem Kumar, framed the charges against the three brothers in November 2002, holding that prima facie there was sufficient material on record for sending the three remaining accused up for trial. They immediately challenged his orders in the High Court.

Of the five chargesheeted in the case, Bhatnagar and Win Chadha died during arguments on the framing of charges.

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