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Court transfers DA case against Ajay Chautala

A Delhi court on Thursday transferred a disproportionate assets case against INLD leader Ajay Chautala, who is serving a 10-year…

Court transfers DA case against Ajay Chautala

Representational image (Photo: Getty Images)

A Delhi court on Thursday transferred a disproportionate assets case against INLD leader Ajay Chautala, who is serving a 10-year jail term in JBT scam case, to another court.

District Judge Ravinder Kaur allowed Ajay's plea seeking transfer of the DA case after he apprehended that he would not get a fair trial if the case continued to be tried by the court presided by the same judge, a special CBI judge.

The case would now be heard by Special CBI Judge Pitamber Dutt on March 23.

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Advocates Harsh Sharma and Vaibhavi Sharma, who appeared for Ajay, had sought transfer of the case alleging that the presiding officer's conduct was "utmost unfair" and the evidence was being recorded in the "most illegal manner" by permitting the prosecution to put leading questions.

The CBI, however, had opposed the plea saying it was "frivolous" and based on "flimsy grounds" and sought dismissal of the application.

The agency had said the presiding officer concerned, against whom the allegations of being biased have been made, has acted as per the law and without any bias.

Co-accused Abhimanyu Singh has also filed a similar plea for transfer of the case.

On both the transfer pleas, the district judge had sought the comments of the presiding officer.

According to sources privy to the case, the presiding officer had claimed that the accused were troubled by the expeditious trial being conducted by the court and were interested in delaying it proceedings.

The court is currently recording evidence in the DA case in which Ajay, son of former Haryana Chief Minister and INLD chief Om Prakash Chautala, is facing trial.

Ajay is serving 10-year imprisonment awarded in January 2013 by another CBI court in the 1999-2000 Junior Basic Trained (JBT) Teachers' recruitment scam.

Chautala was also sent to 10 years in jail in the JBT case. The Supreme Court had dismissed the appeals of Chautala and Ajay and had upheld their jail term.

CBI had charge sheeted Ajay in 2010 indicting him for possessing assets exceeding his legal income by 339.27 per cent. His legal income between May 1993 and May 2006 was Rs.8.17 crore, but he had acquired assets worth Rs.27.7 crore, it had alleged.

All the charges have been denied by Chautala and his sons.

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