Chandigarh, Dec. 25 -- A Mohali man wanted in a Rs.36.56-crore cheating case, who had been declared a proclaimed offender by a local Chandigarh court, has now been acquitted owing to procedural lapses.

Vikas Walia, a resident of Mohali was acquitted in a five-year-old case registered under Section 174-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after finding significant procedural lapses in the prosecution's conduct. The court ruled that the charges couldn't be upheld because of violations of statutory requirements and gaps in the legal process.

Judicial magistrate Kuldeep Singh, delivered the order in the case stemming from an FIR registered on January 18, 2020, at the Sector 36 police station in Chandigarh. As per the police, Walia is accused of...