A Delhi court on Thursday framed corruption and criminal conspiracy charges against 11 former members of Parliament in the 2005 cash-for-query scam, PTI reported. The trial against the former parliamentarians and another individual will commence from January 12.
The former MPs accused are the Bharatiya Janata Party’s YG Mahajan, Chhatarpal Singh Lodha, Anna Saheb MK Patil, Chandra Pratap Singh, Pradeep Gandhi, and Suresh Chandel, the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Narender Kumar Kushwaha, Lal Chandra Kol and Raja Rampal, Manoj Kumar of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the Congress’ Ram Sewak Singh.
The court also framed charges against Raja Rampal’s personal assistant. Vijay Phogat, believed to have been a middleman, died, and the proceedings against him have been closed.
The case relates to a sting operation conducted by two journalists against the MPs in December 2005, which shows them taking money to raise questions in the Parliament. The Lok Sabha had expelled 10 members after the controversy came to light, while Chhatarpal Singh Lodha was removed from the Rajya Sabha, PTI reported.
The Delhi Police had filed the chargesheet in 2009.
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