JOIN US The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked businessman Prem Chand Garg to appear before a Bengaluru court to face charges in connection with a 2014 CBI case pertaining to illegal extraction of iron ore in Ballari and its transporation to other countries from Belekeri port near Karwar.
A bench of Chief Justice of India J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud recorded readiness of Garg to appear before the trial court after the CBI represented by Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh said he was no longer required for custodial interrogation. Singh said the charge sheet has already been filed in the case registered on the direction of the apex court. Now, the charges were to be framed in the matter, he said.
Senior advocate Gopal, representing Garg, submitted that he would appear before the Special Court but all his rights in consonance with law, including the challenges raised by him with reference to the first information report were to be protected.
The court accepted his plea and recorded the statement by the CBI counsel. It disposed of a plea by Garg who had challenged the February 16, 2016 order of the High Court of Karnataka, dismissing his plea for anticipatory bail.
Garg had earlier accused former CBI director Ranjit Sinha of demanding Rs 15 crore for letting him off the hook in the present case. The CBI in an affidavit to the apex court had told that Garg and his son were earlier arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in February for selling 431-kg of duty-free gold worth Rs 140 crore domestically soon after demonetisation.