<p>A Delhi court has put on trial the former acting Chairperson of Company Law Board R Vasudevan and four others for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs seven lakh for giving a favourable order in a case.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Special Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma framed charges against Vasudevan, Company Secretary of a Hindi daily Manoj Kumar Banthia, Ankur Chawla, Vikas Shukla and Harshvardhan Lodha, a chartered accountant, under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.<br /><br />They have also been charged with the offence of criminal conspiracy under the IPC.<br /><br />All the five accused have pleaded not not guilty and preferred to stand trial. The proceedings against Atul Maheshwari, who was Managing Director of the daily, have abated following his death. The court found prima facie evidence to proceed with the trial of Vasudevan and others saying that the telephone conversations recorded by CBI showed that he had accepted the bribe which was recovered from his house during the probe.<br /><br />It also observed that intercepted conversations were very crucial to decide whether charges were made out against the accused and referred to them to prima facie hold that the accused were in touch.<br /><br />"The conversation as already discussed above (in the order) clearly shows not only the payment of money but also acceptance thereof, since accused R Vasudevan was caught at the spot when the trap was laid and the bribe money was recovered from him at his residence," the court said.<br /><br />Regarding Banthia, the court said that he was caught at the spot when he was paying the bribe amount to Vasudevan as per the conversations amongst the accused.</p>
<p>A Delhi court has put on trial the former acting Chairperson of Company Law Board R Vasudevan and four others for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs seven lakh for giving a favourable order in a case.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Special Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma framed charges against Vasudevan, Company Secretary of a Hindi daily Manoj Kumar Banthia, Ankur Chawla, Vikas Shukla and Harshvardhan Lodha, a chartered accountant, under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.<br /><br />They have also been charged with the offence of criminal conspiracy under the IPC.<br /><br />All the five accused have pleaded not not guilty and preferred to stand trial. The proceedings against Atul Maheshwari, who was Managing Director of the daily, have abated following his death. The court found prima facie evidence to proceed with the trial of Vasudevan and others saying that the telephone conversations recorded by CBI showed that he had accepted the bribe which was recovered from his house during the probe.<br /><br />It also observed that intercepted conversations were very crucial to decide whether charges were made out against the accused and referred to them to prima facie hold that the accused were in touch.<br /><br />"The conversation as already discussed above (in the order) clearly shows not only the payment of money but also acceptance thereof, since accused R Vasudevan was caught at the spot when the trap was laid and the bribe money was recovered from him at his residence," the court said.<br /><br />Regarding Banthia, the court said that he was caught at the spot when he was paying the bribe amount to Vasudevan as per the conversations amongst the accused.</p>