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We are, therefore, of the view that a prima facie case was made out on behalf of the prosecution against the first respondent in respect of the transaction of no objection certificate and 35th, 36th and 37th charges should have been framed against the first respondent.

That takes us to draft charges 29, 30, and 31 arising out of the donations made by M/s Hira Nandani Builders and Hira Nandani Construction Private Limited to Indira Gandhi Pratibha Pratishthan. It is necessary to state briefly the facts relating to this transaction in order to be able to decide whether a prima facie case has been made out on behalf of the prosecution against the respondent in regard to this transaction and evidence led on behalf of the prosecution is such that if unrebutted it would warrant the conviction of the respondent on these charges. These draft charges are sought to be made good on the basis of the oral evidence of the sole witness Hira Nandani PW-28 and the documentary evidence produced in the course of his deposition. We will begin by first referring to the evidence of Hira Nandani and whilst we consider that evidence we shall refer to the various documents produced in the case.

According to the prosecution, as a fact, Mrs. Gandhi had not consented to associate her name with the Trust and that fact was disclosed on the floor of the Lok Sabha by the then Defence Minister on behalf of the Prime Minister. It is on record that her name was deleted and the Trust later came to be known only as Pratibha Pratishthan.

As already stated, 43 draft charges were placed before the learned Trial Judge on the basis of the evidence of 57 prosecution witnesses and a large volume of documents. 43 draft charges were divided into six groups for convenience of consideration by the learned Trial Judge. These six heads with reference to the specific allegations and the particulars of the draft charges are shown below:

The oral evidence in this case is backed up by documentary evidence. Some of the relevant documents have interpolations and the inquiry relating to interpolation has not become final. It is indeed difficult at this stage to say that the evidence as a whole is inadequate to establish the prima facie case. The learned Trial Judge, as already pointed out, extracted at great length both the oral evidence as also the contents of documents but there was not much of analysis to justify rejection of the material. It may be pointed out that there is substance in Mr. Jethmalani's submission that the learned Trial Judge adopted two different standards in the matter of weighing the same evidence, when he agreed to frame 21 charges which were inter-linked and inter-connected with the rest of the prosecution story with reference to which the 22 draft charges had been given. In fact it is this position which, when properly considered by his counsel, led the respondent to file his statement suggesting that charges for the other offences excepting under ss. 384 and 420, IPC, may also be framed. If the evidence was accepted for half the number of charges relating to similar offences, there could hardly be any scope to reject the 22 draft charges. Similarly, in regard to the charge of conspiracy the facts were interconnected and there could be no justification to reject the charge even if the other persons implicated were not before the Court. The reasoning given by the learned trial Judge in support of his order of discharge in regard to the draft charges relating to ss. 161 and 165, IPC and s. 5(2) read with s. 5(1) of the Act, concerning these transactions cannot, therefore, be sustained. We are, in the circumstances, inclined to take the view that the statement filed by the respondent was justified and the order of discharge made by the learned trial Judge is not sustainable.

The net result of the aforesaid discussion, therefore, is that a prima facie case has been established by the prosecution in respect of the allegations for charges under ss.l20B, 161, and 165 and 420, IPC, as also under s.5(1) read with s.5(2) of the Act. So far as the three draft charges relating to the offence punishable under s. 384, IPC, are concerned, we agree with the learned trial Judge that the prosecution failed to make out a prima facie case. Therefore, except in regard to the three draft charges under s.384, IPC, charges in respect of the remaining 19 items shall be framed. The appeal is allowed to that extent.