New Delhi, April 3 A city court Thursday framed charges against former union ministers Sheila Kaul and P.K. Thungan in three separate cases, paving the way for their trial for alleged out-of-turn allotment of shops in the capital in 1990.
Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge S.P. Garg ordered the prosecution of Kaul, who had held the urban development portfolio as a cabinet minister, and others for various offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act relating to criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of funds and abuse of official position.
The court would start recording evidence in the cases from June 1. It also charged Thungan, former union minister of state for urban development, in two cases along with Kaul for similar offences.
In one case, Kaul and her deputy Thungan had sanctioned 42 shops and stalls through her order of June 7, 1995, allegedly in contravention of the procedure of the Directorate of Estate regarding licences in respect of markets in the posh locality of Lodhi Road and other places, said CBI counsel Naveen Kumar Matta.
Besides the former ministers, 37 other accused include Vivek Kaul, maternal grandson of Kaul, who was charged with forgery, and then senior officials N.L. Sharma and Shruti Lal Yadav.
