Haryana minister to be tried for using fake papers

A court here Monday said Haryana Youth and Sports Minister Sukhbir Kataria and 27 other people will be tried for using forged and fake documents to prepare bogus votes to win the 2009 assembly elections.

In its preliminary inquiry report filed in the court of judicial magistrate Ashok Kumar July 7, police said Kataria and 27 others were involved in making bogus votes.

On the bases of the police report, the court Monday said the minister and the others will be trial under sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code, on charges of cheating, preparing and using fake documents and hatching criminal conspiracy.

Right to Information (RTI) activist O.P. Kataria and a few others had filed a complaint in the court Feb 21, 2013 demanding a police complaint against the minister.

The court had ordered police to inquire into the matter and submit a report.

The case will be heard July 30.

On orders by different courts, nine police complaints regarding preparing and using bogus votes by Kataria were registered at various police stations.

Kataria won from the Gurgaon constituency as an Independent in the 2009 assembly elections.

The complainant alleged that he won the election on the basis of bogus votes.

The activists are now demanding resignation and arrest of the minister.

"We are surprised that the minister is still in Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's cabinet," activist Kataria told IANS.