In a significant development, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler and arms dealer Abhishek Verma were on Tuesday acquitted by Rouse Avenue Court in the face viosa case. Both of them were accused in the case of issuing fake visas to Chinese citizens on fake letterhead of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had refused to quash the charges against Jagdish Tytler and Abhishek Verma in a case alleging that the duo had forged a letter addressed to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009.
One plea filed before the court had challenged an order passed by the Trial Court in December, 2015, wherein the duo was directed to face trial for the case.
In this matter, the Supreme Court had earlier granted an extension of six months to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the completion of a trial involving Jagdish Tytler and arms dealer Abhishek Verma.
The complaint was filed by the then Minister of State for Home Ajay Maken, who claimed that a forged letter on his letterhead was written to the former PM, seeking to ease business visa norms.
In the plea, he stated that the forged letter was given to a China-based telecom firm with the purpose of wrongfully assuring them of a visa extension in India.
It should be noted that Tytler and Verma were charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for attempting to cheat, and under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The CBI alleged that Tytler colluded with Verma to defraud a Chinese telecom firm.
As per the prosecution, Tytler first showed a fake and forged letter to the company's officials, purporting it to be a communication from Maken to the prime minister.
