New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) Cases involving political bigwigs including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Prasad Yadav and others kept busy the Delhi courts which also dealt with terror-related matters like
the 26/11 Mumbai attack and the Red Fort blast in 2025.
Matters related to attack on Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, AgustaWestland case, conviction of former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and trial proceedings of self-styled godman Chaitanyananda Saraswati in an alleged molestation case also hogged the limelight.
The Enforcement Directorate was left red-faced when a Delhi court refused to take cognisance of the alleged money laundering charge against Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi and others in the National Herald case.
The ED "simply inverted the template" of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act by registering an FIR in 2021, the court had said.
In the alleged IRCTC scam case, charges were framed against former Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi, their son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and 11 others for the offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy, and under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The court made a scathing observation that the land and share transactions in the case were "possibly an instance of crony capitalism fostered in the garb of eliciting private participation in the Railways hotels at Ranchi and Puri".
Another case which grabbed the headlines was the 26/11 Mumbai attack case in which Tahawwur Rana, a close associate of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks main conspirator David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, was brought to India after the US Supreme Court on April 4 dismissed his review plea against his extradition.
In a chilling incident that sent shockwaves across the country, an explosive-laden car driven by a suicide bomber, Umar-un-Nabi, detonated outside the Red Fort on November 10 killing 15 people.
The National Investigation Agency subsequently arrested nine people and sought their custodial interrogation from the courts concerned for playing an active role in the conspiracy behind the blast.
In the case of attack on Rekha Gupta at a public event, a court set the stage for trial by framing charges, including for the alleged offence of attempt to murder, against Sakriya Rajeshbhai Khimjibhai and his friend Tahsin Raza Rafiullah Shaikh.
Gupta was attacked during a 'Jan Sunwai' programme at her camp office in the Civil Lines area on August 20.
A court here awarded life imprisonment to former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar in a murder case connected to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saying his old age and illness weighed in favour of a lesser sentence instead of the death penalty.
The court pronounced the verdict in a case of killings of Jaswant Singh and his son Tarundeep Singh on November 1, 1984.
In the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam, a court ordered the release of purported middleman Christian James Michel from custody in a money laundering case filed by the ED. Later, the court also modified Michel's bail conditions in a CBI case related to the scam.
Self-styled godman Saraswati, who was accused of molesting 17 women students at a private management institute here, was initially remanded in five-day police custody and then sent to jail under judicial custody.
In the 2020 Delhi riots larger conspiracy case, the arguments on framing of charges against student activist Umar Khalid were completed on November 3. Khalid's counsel claimed in the court that evidence was fabricated to implicate him, and he was jailed for five years in this "joke of an FIR".
A court junked an order directing Delhi Police to "further investigate" the role of Delhi Law Minister Kapil Mishra in the 2020 Delhi riots, saying the order suffered from a "serious jurisdictional error".
Shortly after the controversial protest over air pollution at Kartavya Path and Parliament Street on November 23, Delhi Police apprehended 23 protesters for allegedly using pepper spray on police during the demonstration at India Gate and for raising slogans hailing slain Maoist leader Madvi Hidma.
A majority of these protesters are currently out on bail.
In the alleged land-for-job scam, the CBI submitted its final verification report on the status of the accused named in its charge sheet. The CBI, in its verification report, said out of 103 accused named in its charge sheet, five have died.
Meanwhile, a court acquitted three people in a 2009 acid attack case and rapped the police for conducting a "nonchalant and unprofessional" investigation that appeared to be to shield the culprits.
The apex court had termed the prolonged delay in the victim's case a "national shame" and directed the trial to be held on a day-to-day basis.
In the Goa nightclub fire case, a court allowed Goa Police a two-day transit remand of Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra, co-owners of the Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, where 25 people were killed in a fire on December 6.
In November, a court allowed jailed Lok Sabha member Engineer Rashid to attend the winter session of Parliament in custody on all dates. He was also granted custody parole between July 24 and August 4 to attend the monsoon session of Parliament.
A court set aside an order asking four journalists to take down alleged defamatory content against Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), saying the effect of removal of the articles by an ad-interim ex-parte order was "sweeping" and it had the "effect of decreeing the suit itself without a trial".
Earlier this year, a court dismissed BJP MP Yogender Chandolia's plea against a magistrate's order framing charges against him for various alleged offences, including assaulting or using criminal force against a public servant, in a five-year-old case.
In the Kanjhawala hit-and-run case, a Delhi motor accident claims tribunal awarded a compensation of over Rs 36.69 lakh to the family of 20-year-old Anjali Singh, who was killed in an incident in January 2023.
In the Chinese visa scam case, a court ordered the framing of charges for alleged criminal conspiracy and corruption against Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram and six others, saying there was a prima facie case against them.
A court also dismissed a plea which sought a probe against Sonia Gandhi alleging that she was included in the electoral rolls three years before acquiring Indian citizenship in 1983.
A revision plea against the order of dismissal was filed in a sessions court, which has issued notice to the Congress leader and others.
A court discharged 10 TMC leaders in a case linked to a protest outside the Election Commission of India despite prohibitory orders, saying a mere protest for voicing dissent was the hallmark of democracy.
In a case related to the allocation of Mahuagarhi coal block in Jharkhand, a court acquitted former coal secretary H C Gupta, ex-joint secretary (coal) K S Kropha and then director K C Samaria.
Former Minister of State (Coal) Santosh Kumar Bagrodia, former Rajya Sabha member Vijay Darda and others were also acquitted in a 2017 case of allegedly influencing the probe in a coal scam case.
In an alleged sexual harassment case against ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a court accepted a closure report of Delhi Police seeking to cancel a case filed by a wrestler accusing Singh of sexual harassment when she was a minor.
In May, a court sentenced former Madhya Pradesh MLA Kishore Samrite to six months in jail for threatening to blow up Parliament in September 2022 over his 'unfulfilled demands'.
Bringing down curtains on a 13-year-old case, a court accepted the ED's closure report in a money laundering case against Suresh Kalmadi, the former head of the organising committee of 2010 Commonwealth Games and then secretary general Lalit Bhanot and others. PTI SKM MDB MNR ABA SJK ZMN
