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JMM bribery case judgment on Sept 29

The much awaited judgment in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Members of Parliament bribery case involving former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao and 10 others, including some of his former Cabinet colleagues, will be pronounced by a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in New Delhi on September 29.

Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke, while fixing the date for pronouncement of the judgment, on Monday issued notices to all the 11 accused directing them to be present in the Vigyan Bhawan court room at 1400 hours (IST).

CBI, in its chargesheet, had alleged that some MPs were paid hefty bribes for their support to the Congress government, headed by Narasimha Rao, when it faced a no-confidence motion on July 29, 1993. Rao was heading a minority government at the Centre.

The other accused, who face trial in the multi-crore bribery scam case, are former Union ministers Buta Singh, Capt Satish Sharma, Ajit Singh, former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, former Karnataka chief minister Veerappa Moily.

Former Karnataka ministers H M Revanna and Rama Linga Reddy, former Rajya Sabha MP Rajeshwar Rao and Bangalore-based liquor barrons - D K Adikesavulu and M Thimme Gowda - are also embroiled in the case.

The court had discharged nine former MPs, including Suraj Mandal, Shibu Soren and Simon Marandi of the JMM, after the Supreme Court ruled that they could not be tried in the case as they enjoyed immunity from prosecution for voting inside Parliament under Article 105 of the Constitution. Another former JMM MP Shailendra Mahato had turned an approver in the case.

Six former MPs - Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, Abhay Pratap Singh, Haji Mohammed Khan, Roshan Lal, Ram Sharan Yadav and Anadi Charan Das - belonging to the undivided Lok Dal, headed by Ajit Singh, were also discharged from the case on the same ground.

CBI had frozen the joint and individual accounts of Mandal, Soren, Marandi and Mahato, having deposits totalling over Rs 20 million, in the Punjab National Bank in New Delhi.

The court also deferred hearing on Ajit Singh's application seeking permission to go abroad till September 29. Singh had sought the court's permission for a four-day visit to Singapore.

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