Court to hear charges against Misa Bharti

A Delhi court will hear on September 20 the arguments on charges against RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti and her husband in an alleged money laundering case.

Special Judge Arvind Kumar fixed the matter after he was informed by the Enforcement Directorate that all the documents filed along with the charge sheet were handed over to the accused.

ED's special public prosecutor Atul Tripathi told the court that most of the documents have already been handed over to the accused and the remaining will be given soon.

Bharti, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, and her husband Shailesh Kumar were granted bail on March 5 after they appeared before the court in pursuance to the summons issued against them.

The court had on February 8 issued summonses against Bharti, her husband and her firm Mishail Packers and Printers as accused in the case after taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the ED. The charge sheet had accused them of money laundering.

The ED had on December 23 filed its final report against Bharti and her husband.

The agency had earlier attached a Delhi farmhouse of the couple in connection with its money-laundering probe.

The farmhouse, located at 26, Palam Farms in south Delhi's Bijwasan area, was attached provisionally under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

It belonged to Bharti and Kumar and was "held in the name of M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited", the central probe agency had said.

"It was purchased in 2008-09, using Rs 1.2 crore involved in money laundering," it had alleged.

The agency had raided the farmhouse and a few other locations in July last year as part of its probe against two brothers -- Surendra Kumar Jain and Virendra Jain -- and others, who were alleged to have laundered several crores of rupees using shell companies.

The Jain brothers, currently on bail, were arrested by the ED under the PMLA.

The ED had also arrested Rajesh Agrawal, a chartered accountant who had allegedly mediated and provided a cash amount of "Rs 90 lakh to the Jain brothers in advance so as to invest in M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd as share premium".

Bharti and her husband are alleged to have been directors in this firm in the past.

The ED had alleged that the Jain brothers, Agrawal and the daughter and son-in-law of Prasad, who is a former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, were the "key persons behind the laundering of Rs 1.2 crore".