New Delhi, A Delhi court on Saturday ordered framing of charges against alleged conman Sukesh Chandrashekar and 20 others for various offences, including under the stringent MCOCA provisions, in a case registered by the city police's special cell.Delhi court orders framing charges against Sukesh, 20 others in case filed by special cellAdditional Sessions Judge Prashant Sharma said, "I conclude that based on record and appreciation of the present case, the accused persons have prima facie committed offences. They have to be charged with the said offences."The court ordered framing of charges against Sukesh for personating a public servant, extortion, cheating, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy, along with IT Act provisions and MCOCA sections for committing an organised crime and possessing unaccountable wealth on behalf of members of an organised crime syndicate.It also ordered framing of similar charges, except for the offence of personating a public servant, against Sukesh's wife Leena Paulose.The court also said that charges be framed against 17 others for various penal offences, and under the IT Act and MCOCA provisions for committing organised crime.Three others were ordered to be charged with offences of criminal conspiracy and cheating.All 21 accused persons have been summoned on June 3 for the formal framing of charges, following which the trial in the case will commence.MCOCA, or the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999, is a law enacted to combat organised crime syndicates and terrorism.The act equips authorities with special powers to track, intercept, and penalise gang-related criminal activities that normal penal codes fail to deter.The case, which was probed by the Economic Offences Wing, was registered based on a complaint by Aditi S Singh, claiming that on June 15, 2020, she received a call from a landline number on her mobile phone in which the caller introduced himself as a senior official in the Union law ministry and proposed to help her resolve legal matters related to her husband and her companies.Aditi claimed the person demanded ₹20 crore for getting the work done and conveyed the modalities regarding delivery of money.Thereafter, the caller through his associates hatched a conspiracy by impersonating high-ranking government officials and extorted money to the tune of around ₹217 crore on multiple occasions.According to the prosecution, after a technical surveillance of the cellphone used by the caller, the extortionist was identified as Sukesh, who was already lodged in the Rohini Jail in a case of taking money from AIADMK leader T T V Dinakaran on the pretext of helping him retain the 'two leaves' symbol for his party.It said the special cell of Delhi Police raided Sukesh's prison cell on the intervening night of August 7-8, 2021, and recovered two mobile phones from his possession.The prosecution claimed that Sukesh's interrogation led to the identification and arrest of his associates and co-conspirators."It also surfaced that Sukesh and his wife Leena were involved in running an organised crime syndicate with their associates since 2013 with the motive of pecuniary gain by cheating and extortion."From June 2020 onwards, the accused, who was lodged in Tihar Jail since June 2017, started extorting money from the complainant, and the funds were transferred/delivered to his destinations with the help of several facilitators."Each facilitator played a different role and thereby helped Sukesh run an organised crime syndicate," the prosecution alleged.According to the prosecution, some jail officials were facilitating Sukesh by providing him a separate barrack and uninterrupted access to cellphone.A total of 22 accused were arrested in the case, of which one died during the trial.This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.