Yograj Singh acquitted in adulterated petrol case

The duo,along with Ravinder Singh,owner of a farmhouse,was booked by the Manimajra police following a tip-off from the CIA. According to the clue,Yograj,owner of National Service Centre,a petrol pump in Section 17,allegedly sold adulterated petrol and a huge quantity of it was stored at Bal Farm at Shastri Nagar adjoining Kishangarh village in Manimajra.

The argument of the prosecution that Yograj had stored 22 drums containing 200 litres of adulterated petrol in an unauthorised location in Manimajra fell flat as it failed to prove that the recovered quantity of oil belonged to the accused.

“While police alleged that the drums belonged to Yograj and other two accused also had a share in them,there was no evidence to support the claim,” defence counsel Harish Bhardwaj said.

The prosecution also failed to establish if proper procedure was followed to take samples of oil from his petrol pump in May 2000. The investigation could neither give details of the kind of container used to collect samples nor could it prove whether the correct container reached the lab. It also failed to prove the kind of adulteration used in the oil.

Yograj had surrendered on October 31,2000,after his pleas seeking anticipatory bail were turned down. But Gurmit Kaur was granted bail on September 22 the same year.

Ravinder Singh,the third accused has lost his mentally balanced and is currently lodged in a hospital in Amritsar. A separate trial will be conducted after he recovers,Bhardwaj added.