Madhu Koda gets a shock from Delhi High Court before Jharkhand Assembly elections, petition to stay the sentence rejected

New Delhi. The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected the plea of ​​former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, in which he sought a stay on his sentence in the coal scam case. Was. Koda had asked the court to stay his conviction so that he could contest the upcoming assembly elections.

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A single-judge bench of Justice Vibhu Bakhru, while dismissing the petition, said it would not be appropriate to allow the appellant to contest elections for any public post unless he is completely acquitted. The court said that a prima facie case is made out against Koda. But the court is not ready to accept that his sentence can be stayed on this basis alone. It said, the appellant has been convicted of the offense only after a trial.

The lower court had convicted these accused

Madhu Koda, former coal secretary H.C. Gupta, former Jharkhand chief secretary A.K. Basu and Koda's aide Vijay Joshi were sentenced to three years in jail by the trial court. He was convicted of corrupt practices and criminal conspiracy in the allocation of Rajhara North Coal Block in the state to Kolkata-based company Vini Iron and Steel Industry Limited (VISUL).

Along with the punishment, fine was imposed on the culprits

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The court had imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh on VISUL, Rs 25 lakh on Koda and Rs 1 lakh on Gupta in the coal scam case of the UPA era. Basu was also fined Rs 1 lakh. The convicts were granted bail pending their appeal. Koda was the Chief Minister of Jharkhand from September 2006 to August 2008.