In a relief to Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in a cooperative society scam case , the Rajasthan High Court has stayed the additional district judge (ADJ) court order that had directed the magistrate court to send a criminal complaint for further investigation to the Special Operations Group (SOG).
The complaint had named Mr. Shekhawat and others as the alleged accused in the scam and sought further investigation by the SOG into their role.
A single Judge Bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, while passing the interim directions on Wednesday, also admitted the criminal miscellaneous petition filed by one Keval Chand Dakaliya, who is a co-accused along with Mr. Shekhawat.
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Dakaliya’s counsel Mahesh Jethmalani argued that there were specific allegations against the accused and they were required to be heard when the lower court passed the order.
The Bench admitted the petition and granted an interim order.
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A city ADJ court last month had directed that a private complaint be investigated by the SOG with relation to the money trail that ended at Navprabha Buildtech Private Limted in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam case.
Dakaliya is the shareholder director of Navprabha Buildtech Private Limited which is alleged to be linked with Mr. Shekhawat.
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Mr. Shekhawat has been named along with his wife and others in the complaint related to the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in which thousands of investors allegedly lost about ₹900 crore.
The Jaipur unit of the SOG has been probing the scam case since last year. An FIR was registered on August 23, 2019.
Mr. Shekhawat was not named an accused in the chargesheet filed by the SOG in connection with the case. In the investigation, the money trail was found to be linked to Navprabha Buildtech Private Limted.
Later, a magistrate’s court also rejected an application to include him in the chargesheet.
The applicants then approached the ADJ court, which issued directions that their complaint should also be probed.
The SOG has already sent a notice to the Minister in connection with a probe into a separate case pertaining to audio clips which purportedly indicate efforts to lure MLAs away from the Congress.