New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) : A Delhi court today charged former Union Minister C K Jaffer Sharief with causing loss to the public exchequer in a 1995 corruption case involving a foreign jaunt undertaken by him.
Special CBI Judge N K Kaushik fixed August 21 to commence the trial against the senior congress leader who has been charged with various offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sharief has pleaded innocence and has claimed trial in the case along with four others.
He is accused of 'dishonestly' ensuring journey of his erstwhile Additional Private Secretary B N Nagesh, stenos S M Masthan and V Muralidharn, and driver C H Samaullah to London with him.
The Supreme court earlier on May 10 had refused to stay the framing of charges against Sharief.
The case dated back to 1995 when Sharief, as an Union minister had gone to London for his treatment and had allegedly taken four of his official staffers on the trip unauthorisedly, causing a loss of Rs seven lakh to the state exchequer.
The CBI had filed the closure report in the case for want of official sanction to prosecute him, but the trial court had proceeded against him.
An FIR was registered against Sharief in 1998 by the CBI, however, in 2005, the agency filed a closure report citing refusal of sanction.
The lower court, however, had rejected the closure report saying it appeared that the entire material collected by the prosecution had not been placed before sanctioning authority.
The CBI again filed a closure report. The special judge, however, declined the CBI request and took cognisance of the offence under P C Act.