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| Former Telecom Minister Sukhram |
| Former Telecom Minister Sukhram slapped, kicked by man in court premises
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| INDIA
, 19-November-2011
6:24:48 AM |
| Former Telecom Minister Sukhram was today kicked and slapped by a man inside the premises of a Delhi court just moments after he was sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment in connection with a corruption case dating back to 1996.
The assailant, identified as Harvinder Singh, was immediately nabbed and whisked away by the police. He had been thrown out of the court earlier in the day after he misbehaved with the former minister and complained about the court order taking so long.
Sukhram has been convicted yesterday by the court for taking Rs. 3 lakh as bribe to give a lucrative contract to a private firm in 1996. Apart from the five-year jail term, he will also have to pay a fine of Rs. 4 lakh.
The former Telecom Minister had earlier pleaded for leniency in the court on grounds of his old age, while the CBI called him a "habitual offender" and sought maximum punishment for him.
Sukhram, 86, had been held guilty for misusing his official position during his tenure as Telecom Minister in P V Narasimha Rao's Cabinet in giving a contract worth Rs. 30 crore to private firm Haryana Telecom Limited (HTL) to supply 3.5 Lakh Conductor Kilometers (LCKM) of Polythene Insulated Jelly Filled (PIJF) cables to the telecom department.
Reacting to the Sukhram verdict, BJP president Nitin Gadkari said, "The way in which the court has taken the time to punish the guilty is important. The judicial system needs changes otherwise people will lose faith.''
Sukhram was charged on Thursday under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code. These offences under which he has been convicted usually entail a maximum sentence of a seven-year jail term.
Appearing for Sukhram, his counsel had pleaded to Special Judge R C Pandey, "I (Sukhram) am an 86-year-old person and attending the trial for past 12 to 13 years. I suffer from old age-related ailments and have lost my wife. Therefore, a lenient view may be taken."
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