Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) A city court Friday sent the corruption case against Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit and others to the district and sessions judge for further consideration on territorial jurisdiction.

Hearing a private complaint filed by advocate and Right to Information (RTI) activist Vivek Garg, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Vinod Yadav sent the case files to district and sessions judge for appropriate orders on the jurisdiction.

Metropolitan magistrate Neeraj Gaur has sent the case file to Yadav, contending he did not have any territorial jurisdiction to handle this case.

Garg alleged that Dikshit with Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and then transport commissioner R.K. Verma had favoured a private company, ESP India, in a contract causing losses to the public exchequer.

He told the court that the alleged accused bifurcated the process of issuing fitness certificates to commercial vehicles and awarded the contract to issue such certificates to a private company. Earlier, it was the transport department that issued the certificates.

“Due to corrupt and malafide intentions of the said ministers (Dikshit and Lovely), officer (Verma) and company (ESP India), no tender bid was called and the contract was given in contravention of the law,” Garg said in his complaint.

Garg has requested the court to initiate proceeding against the accused under charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.