Overview
- The High Court on November 7 dismissed Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s plea to defer proceedings, enabling the Panchkula CBI court to frame charges and proceed to trial.
- Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya held that stays granted by the Supreme Court to certain co-accused cannot be used to postpone proceedings against Hooda, and that charges and evidence can proceed against him alone.
- The bench noted Hooda did not challenge the special court’s December 1, 2020 order refusing his discharge, which has attained finality and obliges the trial court to frame charges.
- The case arises from a CBI FIR registered on September 15, 2015 and a December 2018 chargesheet naming 34 accused under IPC Sections 420, 471, 120-B and Section 13(1)(d) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
- Investigators allege that acquisition notifications for Manesar led to distress sales before the 2007 release of land, causing an estimated ₹1,500 crore loss to farmers and the state.