Delhi high court stays proceedings against Rao

The Delhi high court on Monday stayed the trial court proceedings in the MPs bribery case and directed the CBI to file by August 8 its reply to a petition filed by former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao challenging the charges framed against him by the special CBI court earlier this month.

Justice Mohammad Shamim also issued a show-cause notice to the CBI on another petition filed by Rao, seeking the quashing of the trial court order granting pardon to co-accused, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Shailendra Mahto after making him an approver.

Both revision petitions will now come up for hearing on August eight.

The trial court had directed Rao and 19 other accused to appear before it on May 14 for the formal framing of charges of criminal conspiracy (section 120-B IPC) and violation of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Another accused, former Janata Dal MP Abhay Pratap Singh also filed a revision petition in the high court on Monday seeking the quashing of charges framed against him. His petition is likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday.

Besides Rao, the other accused in the case are former Union ministers Buta Singh, Satish Sharma and Ajit Singh, Congress MP Rajeshwara Rao, former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, former Karnataka chief minister M Veerappa Moily, his Cabinet colleagues H M Revanna and Rama Linga Reddy, JMM leaders Shibhu Soren, Suraj Mandal and Simon Marandi, former Janata Dal MPs Ram Lakhan Yadav, Ram Sharan Yadav, Roshan Lal, Abhay Pratap Singh and Haji Ghulam Mohammad and Bangalore-based businessmen D Audikeshavalu and M Thimmegowda.

Rao's counsel R K Anand said the May 6 order should be set aside as there was no evidence against the former prime minister to show that he had conspired with the other accused to save his government. Also, under article 105 (2) of the Constitution, MPs were protected from any proceedings in a court of law in respect of anything said or any vote given in Parliament. He said that the immunity was ''absolute'' and that no court can go into the motives of an MP for voting in a particular manner.

Challenging the April 8 order of the special court making Mahto an approver, Anand said the court had erred in using the former JMM leader's ''confessional statement'' recorded under section 164 CRPC as evidence against Rao.

Anand said a statement recorded under this section can be used only during an investigation or before the trial commences. He added that the special court's contention that the trial in the case had not begun was wrong considering the Supreme Court's ruling in the V C Shukla case. It had ruled, ''Trial commences the moment an accused appears in the court.''

UNI

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