Ex-telecom minister Sukhram to serve 3 years in jail

New Delhi: Former Union Minister Sukhram has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment by a Delhi Court for amassing disproportionate assets worth of Rs 4.25 crore.

The Court also imposed a fine of Rs two lakh on the former minister.

The Court has however granted bail to Sukhram on furnishing a personal bond and surity of Rs 50,000 each.

Court has ordered forfeiture of Sukhram's disproportionate assets worth Rs 4.25 crore.

The CBI sought the maximum seven-year jail term for the offences committed during his stint in P V Narasimha Rao Government.

The octogenarian politician, on the other hand, had pleaded before Special CBI Judge V K Maheshwari on the day he was convicted to take a lenient view due to his "good" track record as a minister.

The court after hearing the arguments on quantum of sentence from the CBI and the Congress leader on February 20 had said it would pronounce its order soon.

The court had on February 20 convicted Sukhram under Section 13 (2) read with 13 (1)(e) dealing with criminal misconduct of a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act for acquiring illegal assets form 1991 to 1996.

In its judgement, the court had differed with the CBI's computation of Sukhram's illegal assets and reduced their value from Rs 5.36 crore to Rs 4.25 crore.

According to the CBI, illegal assets amassed by the convict included Rs 2.45 crore cash recovered from his official residence here and Rs 1.16 crore from his house in Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

The CBI had registered the case against the former MP on August 27, 1996 following the recovery of huge cash and unaccounted wealth.

It had conducted raids at his official bungalow in Delhi and houses in Himachal Pradesh on August 16, 1996.

Following is the chronology of events in the disproportionate assets case against former Union Minister Sukhram:

• August 16, 1996: CBI recovers Rs 2.45 crore from Sukhram's official residence at 12, Safdarjung Lane here and Rs 1.16 crore from his house in Mandi in Himanchal Pradesh.
• August 27, 1996: CBI registers FIR against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
• September 18, 1996: CBI arrests Sukhram.
• June 9, 1997: Chargesheet filed.
• October 30, 2001: Court starts recording evidence.
• November 6, 2004: Former PM P V Narasimha Rao records his testimony as a witness in the case.
• April 13, 2007: Recording of testimony of prosecution witnesses concludes with examination of 64 witnesses.
• May 18, 2007: Sukhram answers court queries based on evidence against him.
• July 20, 2007: Defence starts recording statements of witnesses.
• November 7, 2008: Sukhram gets 16 witnesses examined in his favour.
• December 2, 2008: Final arguments start.
• February 17, 2009: Special CBI Judge V K Maheshwari reserves verdict after the conclusion of final arguments.
• February 20, 2009: Court convicts Sukhram in the case and says quantum of punishment likely to be pronounced on February 24.
• February 24, 2009: Court reserves its verdict on the quantum of punishment after CBI seeks the maximum punishment of seven years for the former minister.
• February 25, 2009: Sukhram sentenced to three years' imprisonment and told to pay a fine of Rs two lakh. Court also orders forfeiture of his disproportionate assets worth Rs 4.25 crore.