Telgi, two others get 10 years in jail

Abdul Karim Telgi, the main accused in the multi-crore fake stamp paper scam, and two others were today awarded 10 years' rigorous imprisonment in two separate cases by a CBI Court which also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on each of them.

CBI Judge R K Joshi convicted Telgi, Sohail Khan and Shabbeer Sheikh in the cases filed against them in 2004 and found them guilty of preparing and selling a large amount of fake stamp papers in Madhya Pradesh.

The court found them guilty under 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 255 (preparing fake stamp papers) of the IPC and various other relevant sections, Special Public Prosecutor T P Negi told reporters here.

Telgi and Khan appeared in the court through video- conferencing facility from a Bangalore-based jail while Sheikh's presence was also ensured in the court through the same facility from a Pune prison, he said.

Telgi has so far been found guilty in over half a dozen cases related to the scam, which came to light in 2002, by courts in several states.