Chandraswami, aide to face trial in St Kitts case today

Chandraswami, aide to face trial in St Kitts case today
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, MARCH 26: Self-styled godman Chandraswami and his aide K N Aggarwal alias Mamaji will face formal trial in the St Kitts case from tomorrow for allegedly forging documents to tarnish the image of former premier V P Singh.

Special judge Ajit Bharihoke will start recording of the prosecution evidence from Monday, three months after the Delhi high court upheld his order framing charges against the duo and discharging former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao and former Union minister K K Tewary in the case.

The trial was stayed in June 1997 as CBI had challenged discharge of Rao and Tewary in the high court, which was also approached by Chandraswami and Mamaji seeking discharge.

Bharihoke had framed charges of forgery and criminal conspiracy against Chandraswami and Mamaji for allegedly fabricating a bank document to show that V P Singh's son Ajeya Singh had opened an account in the first trust corporation, a private bank in St Kitts islands, in 1986 and deposited 21 million dollars there.

The high court had dismissed the appeals filed by CBI and Chandraswami and cleared the decks for commencement of the trial while ruling that the trial court had rightly framed charges against the godman and his aide.

Besides Rao, Tewary, Chandraswami and Mamaji, CBI had also named former Enforcement director K L Verma, its official A P Nanday, Chandraswami's US-based disciples Larry J Kolb and George D Mclean for alleged "conspiracy to prepare" certain documents relating to a non-existent account of Ajeya Singh.

While K L Verma was discharged by the trial court for want of sanction from the government by CBI and Nanday was dead, the foreign accused could not be presented in the court.

Upholding the trial court order, the high court had pulled up CBI for not questioning its deputy inspector general Diwakar Prasad, who had requisitioned the passport files relating to V P Singh on November 21, 1988.