Overview
- The special PMLA court in Panchkula, which ruled Friday, discharged former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Associated Journals Limited and closed the Enforcement Directorate complaint.
- Judge Rajeev Goyal acted after the Punjab and Haryana High Court on February 25 set aside the 2021 order framing charges, saying the record did not show dishonest intent or wrongful gain.
- Under the Supreme Court’s Vijay Madanlal Choudhary ruling, an ED money-laundering case cannot continue once the accused are discharged in the underlying offence.
- The case arose from the 2005 re-allotment of Panchkula plot C-17 to AJL at the original 1982 rate of about ₹69.39 lakh, which the CBI had alleged caused a large loss versus an estimated value near ₹65 crore.
- Separate ED proceedings in Delhi over AJL’s assets remain active in higher courts after a trial court declined to take cognisance of a charge sheet in December.