New Delhi [India], January 24 (ANI): Delhi's Patiala House Court on Saturday formally framed charges against businessman Sushil Ansal in a case linked with the Passport Act. The court has directed that the prosecution evidence be recorded in the case.

Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Mridul Gupta framed charges against Ansal and listed the matter for the recording of evidence on April 25. The court has issued a summons to two prosecution witnesses. Meanwhile, Sushil Ansal appeared through video conferencing and denied the allegations.

The case pertains to sections 420, 177, and 181 of IPC and section 12 of the Passport Act. It is alleged that Ansal concealed the facts of his conviction and pendency of cases against him at the time of renewal of his passport in 2013 and 2018.

Sushil Ansal has challenged the framing of charges before the session court. Meanwhile, the court has issued a notice on the petition for February 20.

The court earlier had observed that prima facie, the accused has 'consciously concealed the details of criminal cases pending against him as also the order of conviction.The court said that the accused induced the authority to act in a certain way.

'Prima facie, there is sufficient material to proceed to frame charges against the accused for the offences punishable under Sections 420, 177, and 181 IPC and Section 12 of the Passports Act,' CJM Shriya Agrawal ordered on November 28.

The court had observed, 'Based on the material gathered during the investigation, it is observed that prima facie, the accused has consciously concealed the details of criminal cases pending against him as also the order of conviction, in the sworn affidavit filed by him with the passport application filed by him in the year 2013, in the teeth of Section 12 of the Passports Act, as also to have concealed other cases pending against him in the undertaking given with application filed in the year 2018, to induce under misrepresentation, the RPO into issuing the Passport at the relevant time.'

The court had said that it must be noted that but for such misdeclaration/concealment in the two sets of applications, with the aid of deficient police verification reports, the RPO would not have issued the passports.

'The accused thus, has induced the authority into acting in a certain way based on false/ deficient information, benefiting therefrom, by way of gaining wrongfully by being issued the Passport, thereby committing offences punishable under Sections 420 IPC and Section 12 of the Passports Act,' the court said in the order.

The court had further noted that as regards the offences punishable under Sections 177 and 181 IPC, with the accused not only having furnished false information to a public servant, where the person was under an obligation to furnish true information, but also having filed a false affidavit with a public servant, both these offences are also made out in the present case.

The court had said that offences under Sections 192 and 197 of the IPC are not made out in the present case. The Delhi Police Crime Branch had registered the present FIR on the order of the Delhi High Court passed on a petition moved by the Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) through its General Secretary.

During the proceedings of this petition, it came to the fore that the Ansals had procured passports on multiple occasions on applications which were either replete with misdeclarations or suppressions of correct facts, the CJM noted in the order.

The present FIR was registered for the offences punishable under Sections 420, 177, 181, 192 and 197 of the IPC along with the offence punishable under Section 12 of the Passports Act.

After completion of the investigation, the chargesheet has been filed against the accused for the offences punishable under Sections 177/181 IPC and Section 12 of the Passports Act.

Cognisance was taken for the said offences on February 27, 2021, by the court for the offences punishable under the various sections of the IPC, and the accused was summoned.

Sushil Ansal and other accused were earlier convicted in the Uphar Fire Tragedy case. Uphar cinema hall caught fire during the screening of the Hindi movie Border on June 13, 1997, which killed 59 people. (ANI)