CBI court summons ex-health minister

Thu, Jul 24 03:57 AM

A CBI court on Wednesday issued summons to BJP MP and former Union Minister C P Thakur after taking cognisance of favouritism charges pressed against him in a case of allotment of a shop in Chandigarh-based Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

"Sufficient ground exists to proceed against the accused persons. Consequently, it is ordered that the documents relied upon by the CBI along with a list of witnesses and addresses of the accused be filed within a week," said Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) R K Yadav.

Thakur, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare in 2002, and co-accused Captain Parminder Singh have been asked to be present in the court on September 2, the next date of hearing.

The court's direction came after the investigating officer (IO) of the CBI, Inspector S S Yadav, filed a closure report, claiming that the probe could not proceed in the case as the Centre had not accorded the sanction required to prosecute the former minister.

Taking strong exception to the report, ASJ Yadav noted that in the present case no sanction was required to go ahead with the probe. "It is evident that the closure report was filed by Inspector Yadav with malafide intention to favour the accused persons," noted the judge and directed the CBI director to take departmental actions against the officer.

According to the FIR lodged in August 2004, Thakur, in his capacity as ex-officio president of PGIMER, had misused his official position to get a medical shop allotted to Captain Parminder Singh. Thakur had allegedly allowed Singh to retain the possession of the shop on the campus despite an eviction order being passed against him by competent authorities.

The CBI lodged a preliminary inquiry against Thakur and Singh in this connection in October 2002 during the NDA regime and converted it into a regular case in July 2004.

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