Delhi court frames issues in Satyarthi case

A Delhi court on Saturday framed several issues to be decided in a 1997 civil suit filed against Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi for alleged misappropriation of funds of a trust, and directed the presence of all the parties involved in the case next month.  The court framed 13 questions, including which of the parties are in possession of records of the Mukti Pratishthan Trust and for which period. Additional District Judge Kamini Lau asked, “Has the suit filed by the plaintiff a collusive suit which has been malafidely filed at the behest of Swami Agnivesh for the purposes of misusing the assets of Mukti Pratishthan Trust (MPT)?”

The civil suit was filed against Satyarthi and his wife Sumedha by the trust and four trustees alleging that the plaintiffs had got to know about embezzlement of huge sums of money belonging to the trust by allegedly maintaining false accounts. The court also directed Satyarthi, Sumedha and four trustees to be present on 7 November for the purpose of admission or denial of documents in the suit.