Ex-minister Raja’s arrest not first in telecom ministry
February 2nd, 2011 - 10:37 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Feb 2 (IANS) The arrest of a former minister and top brass in corruption case is not new to the communications ministry.Sukh Ram, minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao ministry, was arrested Aug 18, 1996, when he was a parliament member. The arrest was for irregularities in awarding telecom contracts during his earlier ministerial tenure.
The United Front government headed by H.D. Deve Gowda was in power when Sukh Ram was arrested.
He was convicted 13 years later to three years’ rigorous imprisonment and was slapped with a fine of Rs.2 lakh Feb 25, 2009, by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court in New Delhi.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of his Rs.4.25 crore assets.
However, the case is still pending with the Delhi High Court with Sukhram going for appeal.
Sukh Ram’s arrest happened amidst dramatic scenes after the CBI raided his Safdarjung Lane official residence in New Delhi and his house in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Aug 16, 1996.
Currency worth Rs 2.45 crore, alleged to be kickbacks from the contract, was recovered from the Delhi house while Rs 1.16 crore was found from the Mandi house.
Sukh Ram was arrested two days later.
The case proceedings, which began in 2001, also hit headlines with Narasimha Rao, then former prime minister, recoding his testimony as a witness in the case. However, 16 of the 64 prosecution witnesses favoured Sukh Ram.
Sukh Ram (84) lives in his ancestral place in Mandi and claims to have “distanced from politics”.
However, the family mantle in politics has been carried forward by his son Anil Sharma, who is a state Congress legislator.
–Indo-Asian News Service
gj/prv/vt
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- High court grants bail to Sukh Ram (Lead) - Nov 28, 2011
- Sukh Ram set to surrender Saturday - Jan 07, 2012
- Sukh Ram contests conviction, CBI asked to respond (Lead) - Nov 25, 2011
- Court issues notice to CBI on Sukh Ram's plea - Nov 25, 2011
- Sukh Ram challenges conviction, sentence in graft case (Lead) - Nov 23, 2011
- Five years jail for Sukh Ram in third graft conviction - Nov 19, 2011
- Graft case: Apex court grants bail to Sukh Ram, two others (Third Lead) - Jan 09, 2012
- Sukh Ram's surrender put off by court till Friday (Third Lead) - Jan 05, 2012
- Sukh Ram surrenders, sent to jail (Lead) - Jan 07, 2012
- Sukh Ram's three-year jail term upheld in graft case (Lead) - Dec 21, 2011
- Sukh Ram in coma, counsel tells court (Second Lead) - Jan 06, 2012
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