The Hindustan Times, April 7, 2000
CBI urged to probe case against Chautala
HT Correspondent (Chandigarh, April 6)
THE CHAUTALA government's bonhomie with the Opposition has come to an end. Firing the first salvo at Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala is his bete noire Karan Singh Dalal, the lone Republican Party of India MLA who demanded the CBI should probe a case of disproportionate assets against the Chief Minister, recently cancelled by a Sirsa Court.
Mr Dalal demanded that just as the CBI is enquiring into the assets of Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi and RJD chief Laloo Yadav, the same should be done in the case of Mr Chautala whose brother, Pratap Singh, had registered such a case against the former in 1997.
Meanwhile, in a swift response to Mr Dalal's allegations, the Haryana Additional Advocate general Amarjit Singh today termed the allegations levelled against Mr Chautala as a "figment of imagination and a bunch of lies." In a statement, Mr Singh said the case registered against Mr Chautala by Mr Pratap Singh under the Prevention of Corruption Act could not be referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation as it had already been cancelled by the court of law as it did not hold any substance
Earlier, addressing a press conference here today, Mr Dalal had alleged that "the Chief Minister had used his office to get the Government prosecutor to seek cancellation of the case against him." The case, registered on 17/1/97, was cancelled by special judge Sirsa, K.K. Chopra, on 25/1/ 2000 on the plea of the prosecution that there is no substance in the allegations made by Mr Pratap Singh, and also because there is no government sanction to prosecute the Chief Minister who is a public servant. Questioning the court decision, Mr Dalal said that since Mr Chautala is now the Chief Minister, "who in the state administration will grant sanction to prosecute him? Is it possible for a deputy superintendent of police (the investigating officer) to enquire into a matter against the Chief Minister?"
Alleging that the whole procedure of withdrawal of the case was illegal and done without following any procedure of law, Mr Dalal, said that till date the Chautala family has not denied ownership of any of the properties mentioned in the cancelled FIR.
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