New Delhi: A court on Wednesday acquitted former MLA Ranbir Singh Kharb and his wife, Anita, after allowing an appeal against their conviction and sentencing in a cheating case as the prosecution had failed to establish the guilt of the appellants "beyond the realm of reasonable doubt".
Setting aside the conviction order dated Dec 13, 2023 and the sentence delivered on Feb 24, 2024, the court of special judge Kaveri Baweja said on Wednesday, "There are glaring contradictions and discrepancies, which were not appreciated by the learned trial court in the impugned judgment.On the basis of the evidence on record and the discrepancies discussed in the preceding paragraphs of this judgment, I am of the considered opinion that the appellants could not be convicted for the alleged offences."
The former Independent MLA of Najafgarh and his wife had challenged their seven-year jail sentence in the case, which pertained to allegedly cheating investors from 1998 to 2004. Kharb was a sitting MLA during this period.
The case was registered by the economic offence wing of Delhi Police in 2006. In Dec 2023, a trial court convicted the couple and another man, Satprakash, for the offences of fraud and criminal conspiracy under sections 420 (fraud) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code, stating that the prosecution was "successful in proving the guilt... beyond reasonable doubts". On Feb 24, a court sentenced the couple. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 44.5 lakh on them.
According to the prosecution, Kharb, his wife and Satprakash had fraudulently persuaded the complainant, Pravin Kumar, to invest Rs 23 lakh in a company, but he didn't receive any return or refund. Another man, Ranbir Singh Dahiya, was also allegedly defrauded of Rs 1.3 crore. The prosecution alleged that the three committed offences of cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy, defrauding various investors, largely their kith and kin, by floating a scheme through Jyoti Fair Finance Company.
On Feb 29, the predecessor court suspended the sentence of the couple till the disposal of their appeal.