Charges against Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das in poll code violation case

JAMSHEDPUR: Charges of public property defacement were framed against Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das today as he appeared in a local court in connection with a case of violation of model code of conduct during the 2009 assembly election.

Besides Das, similar charges under section 3(1) of Defacement of Public Property Act were also framed against Chandrasekhar Misra, former BJP president of East Singhbhum district committee, and party activist Prabhakar Rao.

Das appeared in the court of first class judicial magistrate M K Tripathy, sub-divisional magistrate G K Tiwari and court of judicial magistrate II Ashok Kumar in connection with the cases.

While the charges were framed in the court of first class judicial magistrate Tripathy, Das' lawyer N K Mishra pleaded the other two courts to take necessary action to close the cases as no witness was turning up despite summons.