Witness turns hostile in corruption case against Speaker

However,another prosecution witness Jit Singh,who was senior assistant of the department,submitted the details of expenditure on petrol incurred by the department on the official car of Kahlon when he was minister. There are a total of 40 prosecution witnesses in the case.

Additional and Special Judge S K Garg,who is conducting the trial,fixed June 3 as the next date for further proceedings in the trial of the case after public prosecutor Pradeep Mehta concluded the examination of two witnesses.

Kahlon,who was present in the court,is facing charges under Sections 420,467,468 and 120-B of the IPC,Sections 13(1) (d) (e) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988,registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) in Mohali on June 14,2002.

On September 19,2002,the VB filed a challan before a Ropar Sessions Court against Kahlon and co-accused J P Singla,former deputy director of rural development department,in a case related to appointments of junior engineers,clerks and anganwari workers,accumulation of assets disproportionate to known sources of income and misuse of power and panchayat funds during the SAD-BJP regime from 1997-2002.

Kahlon was also facing charges of irregularities in the purchase of JCB machines during his tenure as minister.

The VB had registered a separate case under relevant sections of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act,1988,in this connection on May 16,2002.  The next hearing in the case has been fixed for July 29.

LANGAH ALLOWED FOREIGN TOUR
A Mohali special court has allowed Punjab Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langah to visit California and Canada from June 2 to 25 on an official tour to study the patterns of agriculture there. Additional and Special Judge S K Garg released Langah’s passport with the direction to deposit it with the court after return from the tour. Langah is facing trial in the corruption and disproportionate assets case registered against him by VB during the previous Congress regime.