The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Court in Panchkula discharged former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Motilal Vora on Friday in the Associated Journals Limited (AJL) case linked to the National Herald matter.
Defence counsel SPS Parmar confirmed that both individuals have been acquitted in the AJL case by the ED Court. He also noted that Hooda and Vora had previously been discharged in the related Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case concerning AJL.
Parmar explained that Hooda, who had been named as a party in the AJL case, had filed an application for discharge in the High Court on February 25, which was disposed of. Subsequently, a similar application was filed in the ED Court in Panchkula.
He stated, “Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had earlier been discharged in the CBI case related to AJL, and now he has been discharged in the ED case as well.” Parmar added that the matter has now come to a complete close with discharges granted by both investigation agencies’ courts.
He highlighted that the proceedings had been ongoing for several years in both the CBI and ED courts and that the applications filed in both matters have led to the discharge of Hooda and Vora, who had been named as accused in the case.