The Supreme Court on Friday asked Haryana Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chokker to surrender by Saturday in a money-laundering case involving over ₹1,500 crore.
The court refused to entertain his plea for concession on the ground that he was undergoing hospital treatment for various ailments and also because he had made misleading claims.
A bench of Justices Rajesh Bindal and R. Mahadevan rejected the plea of senior advocate Ashok Agarwal, appearing for the accused, for an extension of time beyond July 12 granted earlier by Punjab and Haryana High Court. The top court said the accused was neither suffering from hypertension nor any ailment warranting hospitalisation.
The bench lamented that on Thursday, another senior counsel had appeared in the case and falsely claimed that Chokker was still undergoing treatment at a hospital, but documents on record indicate he was not in any medical facility.
The apex court noted that the senior counsel, who appeared on Thursday, probably avoided appearing on Friday lest the falsity be exposed.
The bench, without naming the senior counsel, regretted that he falsely claimed Chokker had undergone surgery on July 2 after being admitted on June 28, whereas the documents nowhere indicate any such hospitalisation.
Stating that it cannot condone such "drama" being played in the court, the bench dismissed the MLA's plea. Given the rejection of his plea for extension, Chokker now has to surrender by Saturday, the deadline fixed by the high court. The high court had, while granting him interim bail on medical grounds on June 19, asked him to surrender by July 12.
The MLA was earlier arrested from a Delhi hotel by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with money-laundering offences.