In Jyoti murder case, Panchkula court framed charges of murder against Congress Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary. Apart from murder, district and sessions court framed charges against the first time MLA for cheating, forgery, tampering with evidence and Section 3 of the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The trial will begin on August 22.
Besides Congress legislature, the court has also framed charges against four others, Chaudhary’s relatives Gurmeet Singh and Dharampal, Paramjeet Singh, Tilak Raj (who allegedly drove the truck over Jyoti) for murder and destruction of evidence. All the five accused are currently behind bars. Seven more persons, who were booked by police in connection with the case, have also been charged for forgery, cheating and harbouring the accused.
The victim, Jyoti, who hailed from Hoshiarpur district of Punjab, was found dead in Panchkula on November 22 last year, apparently run over by a truck. However, her post mortem report revealed that she had died of head injuries and had undergone abortion before her death. It was only after examining Jyoti’s cell phone call records that the role of the MLA and his accomplices came under the scanner.
The Himachal Pradesh Congress has already suspended Chaudhary from the party in Janaury 2013.
Initially Chaudhary had given miss to police, but later on January 8, he surrendered before Panchkula court. Even Panchkula court had issued arrest warrant against Chaudhary on December 20 a day when he was elected legislature from Doon. On April 3 this year, the Panchkula police had filed the chargesheet against Chaudhary and others. Meanwhile, Chaudhary’s bail pleas were rejected by the court and his counsel said they would approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
