A special court in Panchkula on Friday discharged former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the Associated Journals Limited in a money laundering case linked to re-allotment of a plot in Panchkula, after closing the Enforcement Directorate’s case against them.
The order follows a ruling by the Punjab and Haryana High Court dated February 25, which set aside a 2021 order that had framed charges against Hooda and others in the case.
Congress veteran Hooda appeared in person during the proceedings.
Special Judge under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Rajeev Goyal, closed the ED’s complaint, as Hooda and the Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the publisher of National Herald, had already been discharged in the main case pursued by the CBI, Hooda’s counsel, S P S Parmar, told reporters here.
“The court closed the ED case as the predicate had already been decided by the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” Parmar said.
The high court had set aside criminal charges