Delhi court acquits Amit Jogi, others in sting case

New Delhi, April 4: A special court here on Monday, April 4 acquitted Amit Jogi, son of Congress leader Ajit Jogi, and four others in a 2003 sting operation case.

In the sting video footage, the then union minister Dilip Singh Judeo was allegedly caught on camera while accepting cash in a hotel room.

Besides Amit Jogi, CBI Special Judge Rajneesh Kumar Gupta acquitted Judeo's then personal secretary Natwar Rateria, journalist Bhupinder Singh Patel alias Rahul, Arvind Vijay Mohan and Rajat Prasad, Amit's counsel Rahul Tyagi said.

Charges against Judeo were dropped after his death on August 15, 2013.

A case was registered against Judeo and others in December 2003 after an inquiry into allegations that Judeo, then a minister of state for environment and forests, accepted a bribe from Patel in exchange for future assistance with regard to mining projects in Chhattisgarh. Judeo denied the allegations.

Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) accused Amit Jogi, the son of the then Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, of planning the sting for deriving political mileage in favour of the latter.

Rahul was in close contact with Mohan, who made arrangements to secretly record the exchange of money on videotape, the CBI had said.

Mohan was in frequent communication with a particular phone number registered in the name of Ajit Jogi and his son Amit, the first information report in the case said.

The CBI claimed that the analysis of Patel's mobile phone conversations revealed that apart from Mohan, he was in touch with Rajat Prasad, who was connected to a local media channel.

All were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

IANS