Court to hear petition against Das tomorrow

RANCHI: A Ranchi magisterial court on Saturday conducted hearing on a recent application moved by police to invoke corruption charges against three persons, including former chief minister and BJP leader Raghubar Das, for their alleged involvement in 2016 Rajya Sabha horse trading case.

It fixed June 7 as the next date of hearing. “The court of first class judicial magistrate Anuj Kumar after hearing the petition partially adjourned the matter for further hearing on June 7,” said assistant public prosecutor SJ Topno.

According to the petition, Das along with other accused persons adopted corrupt practices to influence legislators to secure their votes in favour of BJP candidates in 2016 Rajya Sabha biennial polls.

Controversy gripped the polls after BJP candidates Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Mahesh Poddar made it to the upper house on two vacant seats from Jharkhand, election for which was held on June 11 that year.

Poddar’s election, however, sprung a surprise as the party didn’t have sufficient number of votes.

Soon after the elections, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) chief Babulal Marandi lodged complaint with the Election Commission of India. Marandi, who is now BJP’s leader of opposition, also provided telephonic conversations between the then additional director general, CID, Anurag Gupta, the then chief minister Rahubar Das’ political advisor Ajay Kumar and a former Congress minister Yogendra Sao, whose wife Nirmala Devi was then a sitting legislator.

It was alleged that Gupta and Kumar coerced Sao to convince his wife Devi not to vote in the polls.

Finding the allegations prima facie true, the ECI in June 2017 directed to initiate legal action in the matter. Following this, an FIR was registered in March 2018 against Gupta and Kumar under Sections 171 (E) ( punishment for bribery) and 171 (F) (punishment for undue influence or personation at an election) of the IPC.

After the change of guard in the state, the incumbent Hemant Soren’s government in February last year suspended Gupta and initiated a departmental inquiry against him.

The case has now taken a new turn after the state home department recently gave its nod to arraign Das as accused not named in FIR and asked police to invoke corruption charges against him and other named accused persons.

Following this, police filed a petition seeking court’s permission to book the accused persons under Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.