P&H High Court Rejects Ex-CM's Plea To Halt Manesar Land Scam Trial, Says Stay For Co-Accused No Grounds To Stall Proceedings

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has dismissed a plea filed by former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda seeking to halt trial proceedings in the Manesar land scam case, observing that the stay granted by the Supreme Court to some co-accused cannot be a ground to stall the trial against him.Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya said, "In case the SLPs against the co-accused are to be finally dismissed, they can be charged separately and evidence can then be taken against them; and in case their SLPs are to be allowed, it will have consequence only for the offence of conspiracy so far as the petitioner is concerned. Accordingly, framing of charge and proceeding with the trial will not cause any prejudice to the petitioner.”The petition was moved for quashing orders dated September 19, 2025, passed by the Special Judge, CBI, Panchkula, which had dismissed Hooda's application for postponement of proceedings and fixed the matter for framing of charges against him and other accused not covered by any stay order.The case dated September 15, 2015, was registered by the CBI under Sections 420, 471, 120-B IPC and Section 13(1)(d) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, titled CBI v. Bhupinder Singh Hooda & Others, in relation to alleged irregularities in the release of land acquisition at Manesar, Gurugram.The High Court noted that while proceedings against some co-accused — including senior bureaucrats and additional accused — were stayed by the Supreme Court, no such stay was granted in Hooda's case. The Court held that the petitioner cannot take advantage of the stay orders passed in favour of others, especially since he had not challenged the trial court's earlier order dated December 1, 2020, rejecting his discharge plea and directing framing of charges.Rejecting the contention that trial could not proceed in the absence of co-conspirators, the Court observed that Hooda faced not only conspiracy charges but also substantive offences under the IPC and the PC Act. “Stay of trial against the co-accused cannot be a ground to postpone the trial against the petitioner,” the Court held, adding that evidence could still be recorded, and no prejudice would be caused.Referring to the Supreme Court's ruling in Satya Narayana Sharma v. State of Rajasthan (2001) 8 SCC 607, the High Court reiterated that trials under the Prevention of Corruption Act cannot be stayed, even by the High Court in exercise of inherent powers, as such delays undermine efforts to combat corruption in public offices.Finding no merit in the plea, the High Court dismissed the petition, paving the way for the trial court to proceed with framing of charges against Hooda and other accused not protected by stay orders.Mr. R. S. Cheema, Senior Advocate and Mr. Pardeep Singh Poonia, Senior Advocate with Ms. Sumanjit Kaur, Advocate,Ms. Tarannum Cheema, Advocate and Mr. Satish Sharma, Advocate for the petitioner.Mr. Ravi Kamal Gupta, Advocate for the respondent.Case Title: Bhupinder Singh Hooda v. Central Bureau of InvestigationCitation: 2025 LiveLaw (PH) 428Click here to read order

P&H High Court Rejects Ex-CM's Plea To Halt Manesar Land Scam Trial, Says Stay For Co-Accused No Grounds To Stall Proceedings

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