Sukhram gets 3 years in jail, fined Rs 2 lakh

Former Union Communications Minister Sukhram was today sentenced to three years imprisonment in a 13-year-old disproportionate assets case by a Delhi Court which observed that a corrupt public servant is a menace to society.

The court ordered the forfeiture of Rs.4.25 crore amassed by Sukhram, 82, during his tenure as a Cabimet minister in the P V Narasimha Rao government and slapped a a fine of Rs two lakh.

Sukhram, who was granted bail by Special CBI Judge V K Maheshwari, said he would appeal against the conviction in the Delhi High Court.

In his six-page order, the judge made scathing remarks on political corruption.

"A corrupt public servant is a menace to the society. Political corruption is the worst form because its consequences are far reaching. When our leaders who are the role models of the society, whose every action should be above the board, are themselves corrupt, how can we expect honesty and virtue from public at large.

CBI had during a raid conducted in August, 1996, seized Rs 2.45 crore in cash stashed in his bed at his official residence in Delhi and Rs 1.16 crore from his house in Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

The verdict was delivered in a packed courtroom here in the presence of the octogenarian politician from whose official house in Delhi Rs 2.45 crore in cash were recovered 13 years ago by a CBI team led by the investigating agency's former chief Joginder Singh.

This seizure was followed by recovery of another Rs 1.16 crore from Sukhram's house in Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. The CBI had alleged that he had amassed the illegal assets between 1991 and 1996.

The Himachal Pradesh leader was held guilty by the court on February 20 under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with criminal misconduct by a public servant.

The court had convicted Sukhram under Section 13 (2) read with 13 (1)(e) dealing with criminal misconduct of a public servant.

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.

The CBI had registered the case against the former minister on August 27, 1996 following the recovery of unaccounted wealth.

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