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Chandigarh-based realtor claiming frame-up by SSP fined ₹1 lakh by HC
Court says petitioner, who is accused in multiple cheating cases, is levelling allegations against the SSP just to create ground of defence to avoid police action
The Punjab and Haryana high court has imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on a city-based property dealer-cum-financier for levelling allegations of frame-up in criminal cases by Chandigarh senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal.
Ram Lal Chaudhary, 64, was arrested on November 12, 2021, for duping a Gurgaon resident of ₹5 crore on the pretext of real estate investment about five years back. He also has at least eight FIRs registered against him in different places, including Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.
According to police, Chaudhary first came to Chandigarh from Rajasthan in 1976 at the age of 19 for a “better future”. Starting off as a labourer, he used to stay in a shanty in Ram Darbar.
Cultivating contacts with politicians, bureaucrats and police officials, he multiplied his assets by taking money from people to get them relief in criminal cases and even helped policemen get postings in different wings, according to investigations.
Now the director of Orvis Developers, a realty firm in Mohali, he went on to own a house in Sector 46, Chandigarh, besides 40-odd flats, agriculture land, commercial sites and booths in Chandigarh and Mohali. His family also owns a fleet of luxury vehicles, including BMW 7 series, Mercedes, Audi Q7, Range Rover and Porsche.
Following his arrest in November, Chaudhary had approached the high court seeking transfer of complaints against him to some independent senior police official other than SSP Chahal, claiming false implication.
When asked for a response by the court, the police had argued that Chaudhary had cheated multiple people by gaining their trust and inquiries had established that he liaisoned with politicians, senior police officials and even judges to illegally get different matters sorted.
At the time of filing of his petition, he was fearing registration of FIRs into the different complaints pending against him, the police had told court.
The court noted that complaints against Chaudhary were registered wherever Chahal had served and that Chaudhary was levelling false allegations against him just to create a defence for himself, as he knew about the serious allegations in complaints pending against him, adding that inquiries had found that he duped and cheated number of people of crores by claiming that he had contacts with politicians, bureaucrats and even judges, and could get cases settled up to the Supreme Court.
Dismissing his plea, the court instead imposed a ₹1 lakh fine on Chaudhary.
Over the years, apart from cheating, Chaudhary has been embroiled in a number of criminal cases. He was one of the accused in the infamous rape-on-wheels case registered in 2002. He was also arrested for the murder of his son’s live-in partner, who was a model. He was eventually acquitted in both cases.
In 2005, he was booked in a drugs case in Panchkula. Later in 2008, he was convicted and fined in a case of negligent driving in Manimajra. A case of theft was also registered against him at the Rohini police station in Delhi.
