This year, Delhi courts were abuzz with cases related to veteran leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Prasad Yadav. Apart from this, Mumbai terrorist attack and Red Fort blast cases were also heard in the courts.
The case related to the attack on Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, the AgustaWestland case, the conviction of former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and the trial of self-styled godman Chaitanya Nanda Saraswati in the alleged molestation case also made headlines. A Delhi court’s refusal to take cognizance of the chargesheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and others in the National Herald case over alleged money laundering has put the Enforcement Directorate in an uncomfortable position.
The court had said that the ED completely inverted the draft of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by filing the FIR in 2021. Charges were framed against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, their son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and 11 others under provisions of cheating, criminal conspiracy and Prevention of Corruption Act in the alleged RCIDC scam case.
The court commented sharply that the land and share transactions in this case were “possibly an example of nepotistic capitalism in the guise of promoting private participation in the railway hotels at Ranchi and Puri”. Another case that grabbed headlines was the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case in which Tahawwur Rana, a close aide of David Coleman Headley alias Dawood Geelani, the key conspirator of the attacks, was brought to India. A horrific incident occurred in November which shocked the entire country. On November 10, a suicide bomber named Omar-un-Nabi detonated an explosive-laden car outside the Red Fort, killing 15 people.
The court has paved the way for starting the trial proceedings by framing several charges including attempt to murder against Rajeshbhai Khimjibhai and his friend Tahseen Raza Rafiullah Shaikh in the case of attack on Rekha Gupta at a public event. Gupta was attacked on August 20 during a ‘public hearing’ program organized at his camp office in the Civil Lines area. A court here sentenced former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar to life imprisonment in a murder case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The court said that in view of his old age and illness, it was appropriate to give him a lesser punishment instead of death penalty. The court gave this verdict in the murder case of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984. In the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter scam case, the court ordered the release of alleged middleman Christian James Michel from custody in the money laundering case filed by the ED.
Later, the court also modified Michel’s bail conditions in the CBI case related to the scam. Self-styled godman Saraswati, who is accused of molesting 17 female students at a privately managed institute here, was first sent to five-day police custody and then sent to jail in judicial custody. In November, a court allowed jailed Lok Sabha member Engineer Rashid to attend the winter session of Parliament. He was also released on parole between 24 July and 4 August to attend the monsoon session of Parliament.