Chandigarh, Nov. 18 -- The special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court has framed charges against former Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) member secretary Birendra Choudhary and his wife Sabita Choudhary in a disproportionate assets (DA) case registered in 2021. Choudhary, a 2000-batch, AGMUT-cadre Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, is already facing trial in a 2017 corruption case, which had led to the discovery of the disproportionate assets.

Chaudhary, who served as deputy conservator of forests and later as CPCC member secretary, was first arrested in July 2017 after he was allegedly caught red-handed, accepting a Rs.1 lakh bribe for not revoking a consent issued to a timber businessman, who owned a saw mill. ...