Court rejects discharge petition of former minister

Patna, Apr 26 (UNI) Special CBI Judge of Patna Jawahar Prasad Ratnesh today rejected the discharge petition of former Bihar road construction minister Mohammed Illiyas Hussain and his wife in Disproportionate Assets (DA) case, an off shoot of multi-crore bitumen scam.

The designated judge directed both the accused to appear before the court in person on May 26 for framing charges against them.

According to the charges, Mr Hussain amassed wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income, worth more than Rs 55.83 lakh from March 15, 1990 to June 30, 1996.

His wife, Salma Khatoon allegedly abetted and supported the former minister in the crime.

The case was registered in 2000 against Mr Hussain.

Later, a chargesheet was submitted in 2004 against Mr Hussain and his wife under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code.

UNI XC DH SP RL DB2236