Punjab and Haryana HC refuses to quash criminal proceedings against former Haryana minister
Punjab and Haryana High Court Rejects Plea to Drop Loan Fraud Case Against Ex-Haryana Minister Subhash Choudhary
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has turned down a plea to cancel criminal charges against former Haryana minister and MLA Subhash Choudhary, along with his family and associates, in a major loan fraud case. This decision keeps the spotlight on the alleged scam at the Yamunanagar Central Cooperative Bank, where fake documents helped secure big loans.
Subhash Choudhary served as an MLA from Jagadhari between 1996 and 2000. He also held the position of Minister of State for Environment back then. Later, from 2005 to 2009, he won again from the same seat during the Congress government, growing close to then Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya dismissed the petition filed by one of the accused, Deep Chand, under Section 482 of the CrPC. The court found strong evidence from the investigation that points to a clear conspiracy among the group.
The case kicked off with an FIR on October 15, 2018, in Buria, Yamunanagar district. It charges them under several IPC sections, including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach by public servant), 420 (cheating), and others related to forgery like 467, 468, 471, plus 120-B for criminal conspiracy. Prosecutors say Choudhary, his wife Kusum Rani, brother Ashok Kumar (who was the bank’s chairman at the time), and advisor Deep Chand worked together to grab over Rs 71 lakh in agricultural loans. They did this by faking documents and tweaking revenue records to show barren land as fertile farmland.
A local patwari allegedly helped create forged ‘jamabandi’ and ‘girdawari’ records to pull off the fraud. Once the loans came through, the group never paid them back, leaving the cooperative bank with huge losses.
Haryana’s Additional Advocate General Amit Sahni fought hard against the quashing plea. He pointed out that investigators wrapped up the probe, filed a charge sheet on March 16, 2021, and the trial court even framed charges on June 8, 2021. Sahni stressed that forgery in loan cases like this is a grave issue. "Quashing FIRs and charge sheets here would only encourage more fraud and weaken our justice system," he argued.
The court backed the state’s view completely. It noted how the accused even spun a false story about floods destroying their land to dodge repayment. With the conspiracy so well-documented and the crimes clearly established, the judge dismissed the petition. This means the trial will now move forward against Choudhary and the others in the Haryana loan fraud case.
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