Sukhram sentenced to three-year jail term

Former Union Communications Minister Sukhram was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a 13-year-old disproportionate assets case by a Delhi court that 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 Cabinet minister in the P V Narasimha Rao government and slapped a fine of Rs 2 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.

During a raid conducted in August 1996, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had seized Rs 2.45 crore in cash stashed in Sukhram’s bed at his official residence in Delhi and Rs 1.16 crore from his house at Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

Sukhram escaped the maximum jail term of seven years for the offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act, which was pressed by the CBI.

"The need of the hour is that the cancer of corruption should be immediately checked," the judge observed while pronouncing the sentence.

The judge said the CBI has proved that Sukhram had accumulated disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 4.25 crore beyond his known sources of income and the former minister could not satisfactorily explain how he acquired so much wealth.

Sukhram had contended that the cash with him was meant for Congress party funds but this was refuted by senior Congress leaders at the time.

In 1995, Sukhram was accused of favouring Hyderabad-based Advanced Radio Masts Ltd by awarding a contract to supply inferior quality equipment at a higher price.

Later, the Delhi High Court quashed the award of the contract as being illegal and arbitrary. It was alleged that Sukhram took a unilateral decision after ''discarding'' the recommendation of a tender evaluation committee and leading to a loss of around Rs 1.68 crore for the Department of Telecommunications.

sortium, which became the highest bidder for fixed line telecom services despite doubts over whether it could raise the money to complete the job. To help the company, it was alleged that Sukhram changed the terms of the bids after they had been accepted.

In his six-page order today, the judge made scathing remarks about political corruption. "Political corruption is the worst form because its consequences are far-reaching.”