Charges Ready Against Sukh Ram: Cbi

A chargesheet against former communications minister Sukh Ram, accused in cases relating to disproportionate assets and telecom scam, is ready and would be filed before a designated court here very soon, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources said yesterday.

The sources, however, refused to clarify whether the chargesheet related to the Rs 1.8-crore telecom scam case or the disproportionate assets case.

The government had cleared the decks for the prosecution of Sukh Ram by granting the formal sanction to the CBI on Friday. Sukh Ram and other accused in the telecom scam case are at present on bail. The CBI has received a communication from the government, formally sanctioning it powers to prosecute Sukh Ram in connection with the telecom scam case.

President Shankar Dayal Sharma gave his consent for prosecuting Sukh Ram last week. The CBI had sought the Union cabinets sanction in November last.

Following receipt of the formal sanction, the CBI would now file its chargesheet against the former minister in the scam case in which he is alleged to have misused his office and authority to grant favours to a Hyderabad-based firm, Advance Radio Masts Ltd, the sources said. The other accused in the telecom scam were a senior official, Runu Ghosh, and the managing director of the Hyderabad firm Pattalu Rama Rao.

During its raids at the residences of Sukh Ram in Delhi, Kaushambhi (Uttar Pradesh) and Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) late last year, the agency had seized about Rs 4.8 crore of cash and other valuables. Following these seizures, the agency had slapped the case of disproportionate assets against the former minister.

After his arrest last year, the former communication minister was lodged in Tihar jail for couple of weeks before coming out on bail.

Sukh Ram was arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on his arrival from London. He was taken to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) stright from the airport and was later interrogated by the CBI.