E-Paper
'Can’t summon officials from pvt firms in coal case'
The Delhi high court on Monday quashed a trial court’s order summoning three officials of a private company for allegedly forging documents while making an application for allocation of additional coal blocks in 2007.
The Delhi high court on Monday quashed a trial court’s order summoning three officials of a private company for allegedly forging documents while making an application for allocation of additional coal blocks in 2007.
Setting aside the trial court’s September 6 order summoning Girdhir Lal Mohta, Vipul Aggarwal, VP Aggarwal, officials of M/s Prakash Industries Ltd, Justice Sunil Gaur said, “the impugned order summoning petitioners in their individual capacity as accused is rendered unsustainable and is accordingly quashed while not commenting upon the merits.”
The court, however, said “it would be open to the trial court to summon petitioners as additional accused... If any evidence comes on record about the petitioners having knowledge of the application of January 12, 2007 along with forged documents or of their having approved it.”
A chargesheet filed by CBI against Mohta and Vipul Aggarwal, the Directors of the company, and VP Aggarwal, the hairman-cum-Managing Director, said the officials had forged documents while making applications.
The court accepted the petitioners’ argument that they can not be summoned in individual capacity as the application was signed by AK Chaturvedi as President (Corporate Affairs) and Constituted Attorney of the accused company.
