A Delhi court on Monday took cognisance of the charge sheet in the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry documents theft case.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Sanjay Khanagwal took cognisance of the investigation report after inquiring from the investigating officer about the specific charges against each of the 13 accused and the evidence available on record for their prosecution.
The investigating officer also submitted before the court that he would file a supplementary charge sheet as the investigation of the case was still going on.
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Later, the CMM fixed May 18 as the date for hearing arguments on the charges by counsel for the accused and the prosecution.
Meanwhile, another court postponed till April 22 the hearing on the bail applications of five corporate executives, facing prosecution in the case. Additional Sessions Judge Raj Kapoor postponed the hearing on a request by the prosecutor that he needed time to go through the charge sheet to respond to their bail applications as he had been supplied a copy just a few hours before the hearing began.
Shailesh Saxena of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Rishi Anand of Anil Dhirubai Ambani Group (ADAG), Vinay Kumar of Essar, K.K. Naik of Cairn and Subhash Chandra of Jubiliant Energy have sought bail. Former journalist Santanu Saikia also moved an application for bail in the case. It will now be taken up for hearing on April 26 The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police filed the charge sheet on Saturday, alleging that the accused, among others, committed the offences of theft, forgery, cheating, criminal conspiracy and trespass under the Indian Penal Code.
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