New Delhi, Oct 23 (PTI) A Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted former MLA Ranbir Singh Kharb and his wife Anita Kharb in a case of defrauding investors between 1998 and 2004.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja passed the order on an appeal filed by the Kharbs against an order by a magisterial court, which had convicted the couple and sentenced them to a seven-year jail term.
The special court said there were “glaring contradictions” and “discrepancies” in the prosecution’s case which the trial had failed to appreciate.
“On the basis of evidence on record and the discrepancies discussed… I am of the considered opinion that the appellants could not have been convicted for the alleged offences… Both the appellants are accordingly acquitted,” the judge ordered. The bench said the prosecution had failed to bring home the guilt of the appellants beyond the realm of reasonable doubt.
Ranbir Singh Kharb, 62, and Anita Kharb, 56, had approached the special court against the order of the magisterial court, saying that the trial court “erred” in its judgement.
The trial court had convicted the couple on February 24 for “cheating” and “criminal conspiracy”, and had also directed them to pay a fine of Rs 22 lakh each.
According to the prosecution, the convicts fraudulently and dishonestly induced complainant Pravin Kumar to invest money in a company.
Kumar invested a sum of Rs 23 lakh, without getting any return or refund, it claimed.
Another victim Ranbir Singh Dahiya was defrauded of Rs 1.34 crore, the prosecution claimed.
The prosecution had alleged that the Kharbs had committed offences of cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy and defrauded several investors, most of whom were their relatives, in the name of “investments” in their company Jyoti Fair Finance Company.
Anita Kharb was the director of the of the company. She gave receipts in the name of company and indulged in luring victims for investments, it claimed.
The prosecution said the accused hatched a criminal conspiracy to cheat the general public between 1998 and 2004, through a scheme floated through the finance company.
According to the prosecution, the accused coerced people into investing in the company by alluring them with high interest rates and monetary gains. They never had the intention to return the money.
Whatever payments, if at all made, were made to further lure or induce the innocent investors to make further investments, it added. PTI UK RPA
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