Trafficking charges framed against Daler

The judge pronounced the orders in a packed courtroom in the presence of the four accused in the case 8212; Daler Mehndi, his brother Shamsher Mehndi, Bulbul Mehta and Dhian Singh.

The trial will commence in first week of January next year.

Court order follows rejection of Daler8217;s plea before the court, challenging the framing of charges against him, after the police had already given him a clean chit in the case.

After the judgement, a shattered Daler Mehndi pleaded his innocence and said that he had never taken any money from anyone and all his payments were accepted through draft.

Daler, along with his counsel Baljinder Singh Sodhi, later told mediapersons that after assessing court order, they would contest it in a higher court. 8220;We will fight till the end to get justice8221;. On the other hand, complainant Bakshish Singh and his counsel Gurpreet Singh expressed satisfaction at the court order and hoped for an early trial.

The Mehndi brothers and others were booked by the Patiala Police on September 19, 2003 on the complaint of one Bakshish Singh of village Balbehra in Patiala, who accused Daler and his brother, with others for accepting lakhs of rupees from him on the pretext of sending him abroad as part of their cultural troupe. Later, a series of complaints cropped up and as many as 31 complainants stand against the Mehndi brothers now.