New Delhi: Six former BJP MPs among 11 parliamentarians were framed graft and criminal conspiracy charges in the infamous 2005 cash-for-query scam by a Delhi court on Thursday.
The former MPs accused in the case are Chandra Pratap Singh, Pradeep Gandhi, Suresh Chandel, Y G Mahajan , Chhatarpal Singh Lodha, Anna Saheb M K Patil (all BJP), Raja Rampal, Lal Chandra Kol, Narendra Kumar Kushwaha( all BSP), Manoj Kumar (RJD), and Ram Sewak Singh (Congress).
In a sting operation by two journalists, the MPs were caught before camera that they put questions in the House for money. The sting operation video better known as cash-for -query scam was streamed in a news channel on December 12, 2005. Basing on the television footage, the prosecution had proceeded on the case.
Besides the 11 former MPs, the PA of Rampal, Ravinder Kumar, was also framed in the case.
The special judge Kiran Bansal put the 11 former MPs and the individual on trial, which will commence from January 12.
The special public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava said the proceedings against , Vijay Phogat, a middleman who was one of the accused, had been abated as he has passed away since.