ED court separates proceedings against son of former RTS chief

Case involves allotment of 14 industrial plots worth Rs 30.3 cr to former Haryana CM Hooda’s acquaintances in 2013

ORDER IMPLIES THAT TRIAL AGAINST OTHERS WILL RESUME; THERE ARE A DOZEN ACCUSED, INCLUDING HOODA

PANCHKULA: A special court in Panchkula on Friday ordered separation of proceedings against Dagar Katyal, an accused in illegal allotment of industrial plots in 2013 during former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s tenure.

The court ordered the same as Katyal, son of a former commissioner of the Right to Service Commission, Haryana Sunil Katyal, failed to appear before it despite multiple notices.

It ordered that notices seeking his presence be pasted outside the residence in Panchkula, where he had last resided.

Katyal, who is residing in the US, the court said, is intentionally and deliberately avoiding the process of law and is absconding.

The order to separate the proceedings was passed in “larger interest of justice” as his absence is delaying proceedings against others. Now trial against others will resume.

There are over a dozen accused in the case, including the former CM.

The case involves allotment of 14 industrial plots worth Rs 30.34 crore to Hooda’s acquaintances in 2013. The ED had initiated the investigation in 2015 after an FIR was lodged by the Haryana vigilance bureau.

The FIR was subsequently transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2016, which registered the case under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (disappearance of evidence), 204 (destruction of record to prevent its production as evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (to use a forged record or document as genuine) of the Indian Penal Code and under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The ED has filed its chargesheet in the case in February.