New Delhi: Former telecom minister Sukhram has been convicted for awarding a lucrative contract to a private telecom firm for supplying cables to the government at inflated rates after receiving a bribe of Rs 3 lakh 15 years back.
Special judge R P Pandey, who convicted 84-year-old Sukhram also on charges of misusing his official position in awarding the contract and causing loss to the state exchequer, is likely to decide on the quantum of sentence to him on Saturday.
The corruption case dates back to 1996, when the telecom ministry under Sukhram's stewardship had awarded private firm Haryana Telecom Limited (HTL) a contract worth Rs 30 crore to supply 3.5 Lakh Conductor Kilometers (LCKM) of Polythene Insulated Jelly Filled (PIJF) cables to the telecom department. Sukhram had been put on trial along with HTL chairman Devinder Singh Choudhary who had died during the trial.
“Sukhram also obtained (illegal) gratification other than legal remunerations from Choudhary as a motive or reward for showing the favour to the said firm (HTL),” the judge said.
The court convicted Sukhram, brushing aside his defence counsel argument that had he caused a huge pecuniary gain to HTL, he would not have taken a paltry sum of Rs 3 Lakh. The court termed the argument as “devoid of merit.”
“It is not the prosecution case that Sukhram got only this much amount in this deal which runs into crores of rupees. The prosecution case is that the amount of Rs 3 lakh which was recovered from him was the bribe money. “It is a matter of common knowledge that it is virtually impossible to get any direct evidence where both i.e bribe giver and the person who takes the bribe, worked in joint concert,” ASJ Pandey said in his 188-page order.
Convicting Sukhram, the judge said though there was no direct evidence to prove the existence of conspiracy between Sukhram and Choudhary, “it is a wellknown fact that conspiracy is hatched in privacy and secrecy, for which direct evidence would be rarely available.”
“The facts and circumstances show that because of proximity of co-accused D S Choudhary (since expired) with Sukh Ram, M/s HTL was his most favoured vendor,” it said.
The court also refused to accept the argument of defence counsel that after the death of co-accused Choudhary, Sukhram cannot be convicted for conspiracy.
The court noted that CBI had conducted search at the residence of Sukhram in Himachal Pradesh from where it had recovered over Rs 1.16 crore. PTI
TELECOM SCAM
Special CBI court convicts 84-yr-old politician Sukhram in a 15-yr-old telecom scam case
Case filed in 1996 after the then telecom minister Sukhram had
awarded private firm Haryana Telecom Ltd (HTL) a contract worth Rs 30 cr to supply cables to govt at inflated rates after
receiving a bribe of Rs 3 lakh
Court convicts him under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy. He can be sentenced maximum up to 7 yrs of rigorous imprisonment
Another accused
D S Choudhary, chairman HTL, has expired
Sukhram is currently
out on bail Other cases in which Sukhram has been found guilty
Feb 25, ’09: Sukhram sentenced to 3 years’ jail in an illegal assets case and told to pay Rs 2 lakh. Court orders forfeiture of his illegal assets worth Rs 4.25 cr 2002: Sukhram got 3 years in jail in another corruption case for causing a loss of Rs 1.66 crore to exchequer in awarding of an equipment contract to a Hyderabad firm.
Special judge R P Pandey, who convicted 84-year-old Sukhram also on charges of misusing his official position in awarding the contract and causing loss to the state exchequer, is likely to decide on the quantum of sentence to him on Saturday.
The corruption case dates back to 1996, when the telecom ministry under Sukhram's stewardship had awarded private firm Haryana Telecom Limited (HTL) a contract worth Rs 30 crore to supply 3.5 Lakh Conductor Kilometers (LCKM) of Polythene Insulated Jelly Filled (PIJF) cables to the telecom department. Sukhram had been put on trial along with HTL chairman Devinder Singh Choudhary who had died during the trial.
“Sukhram also obtained (illegal) gratification other than legal remunerations from Choudhary as a motive or reward for showing the favour to the said firm (HTL),” the judge said.
The court convicted Sukhram, brushing aside his defence counsel argument that had he caused a huge pecuniary gain to HTL, he would not have taken a paltry sum of Rs 3 Lakh. The court termed the argument as “devoid of merit.”
“It is not the prosecution case that Sukhram got only this much amount in this deal which runs into crores of rupees. The prosecution case is that the amount of Rs 3 lakh which was recovered from him was the bribe money. “It is a matter of common knowledge that it is virtually impossible to get any direct evidence where both i.e bribe giver and the person who takes the bribe, worked in joint concert,” ASJ Pandey said in his 188-page order.
Convicting Sukhram, the judge said though there was no direct evidence to prove the existence of conspiracy between Sukhram and Choudhary, “it is a wellknown fact that conspiracy is hatched in privacy and secrecy, for which direct evidence would be rarely available.”
“The facts and circumstances show that because of proximity of co-accused D S Choudhary (since expired) with Sukh Ram, M/s HTL was his most favoured vendor,” it said.
The court also refused to accept the argument of defence counsel that after the death of co-accused Choudhary, Sukhram cannot be convicted for conspiracy.
The court noted that CBI had conducted search at the residence of Sukhram in Himachal Pradesh from where it had recovered over Rs 1.16 crore. PTI
TELECOM SCAM
Special CBI court convicts 84-yr-old politician Sukhram in a 15-yr-old telecom scam case
Case filed in 1996 after the then telecom minister Sukhram had
awarded private firm Haryana Telecom Ltd (HTL) a contract worth Rs 30 cr to supply cables to govt at inflated rates after
receiving a bribe of Rs 3 lakh
Court convicts him under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy. He can be sentenced maximum up to 7 yrs of rigorous imprisonment
Another accused
D S Choudhary, chairman HTL, has expired
Sukhram is currently
out on bail Other cases in which Sukhram has been found guilty
Feb 25, ’09: Sukhram sentenced to 3 years’ jail in an illegal assets case and told to pay Rs 2 lakh. Court orders forfeiture of his illegal assets worth Rs 4.25 cr 2002: Sukhram got 3 years in jail in another corruption case for causing a loss of Rs 1.66 crore to exchequer in awarding of an equipment contract to a Hyderabad firm.
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