The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday reserved its judgment on a public interest litigation challenging the appointment of Moga MLA Joginder Pal Jain as the chairman of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation (PSWC) despite his conviction in a criminal case.
During hearing of the case, the petitioner also sought directions to the chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Moga, to expedite trial of the criminal case pending against Jain under various sections of the Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1955, in public interest. In the case, the CJM has already framed charges against Jain.
On August 26, 2007, Jain and his family members were charged under sections 3 (general liabilities of promoter), 5 (development of land into colony), 21 (compulsory registration), and 36 (offences by promoters or estate agents) of the Act at Mehna in Moga district. The offence was of selling agricultural land for commercial and residential purposes in violation of the Punjab Urban Planning and Development (PUDA) Act.
Earlier, the state government conveyed to the high court that it had decided to retain Jain as the chairman of the corporation. Jain was himself present in the court on Monday during hearing of the case. The court, however, retained the entire record of Jain's appointment as chairman with it till the pronouncement of the judgment.
In its order dated January 7, 1992, the Delhi trial court had sentenced Jain to one-year imprisonment for using a forged passport dishonestly when he was caught on January 19, 1988, by the immigration authorities before moving to Hong Kong via Bangkok, for possessing a passport that was in the name of Mohan Lal on which Jain's photograph was pasted.
{{/usCountry}}In its order dated January 7, 1992, the Delhi trial court had sentenced Jain to one-year imprisonment for using a forged passport dishonestly when he was caught on January 19, 1988, by the immigration authorities before moving to Hong Kong via Bangkok, for possessing a passport that was in the name of Mohan Lal on which Jain's photograph was pasted.
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