India, April 19 -- A city court has directed police to register an FIR against a former Haryana minister for allegedly abusing his position to divert public funds by falsely showing three individuals as residents of a house in New Colony while concealing his ownership of the property.

Chief judicial magistrate Rajat Verma directed the police to book Sukhbir Kataria under sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation of movable property), 405 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code and to investigate the matter.

The court said that "looking at the material placed on record and the serious nature of the allegations, the case was fit for directing the police to r...