Former telecom minister Sukhram has been held guilty by a Delhi court of misusing his official position when he was in the P V Narasimha Rao cabinet and giving undue favour to a cable supply company in a 15-year-old case.
Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge R P Pandey convicted 84-year-old Sukhram under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He is likely to pronounce the quantum of the sentence tomorrow.
"Accused Sukhram has been held guilty of the offences punishable under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC and convicted accordingly," the judge said. The Himachal Pradesh politician, out on bail, has been convicted for the offences which entail a maximum punishment of imprisonment for seven years.
CBI, in its charge sheet filed in 1998, had accused Sukhram and another person of allegedly showing undue favour in supplying excess quantities of cable and accepting Rs 3 lakh. In 2009, Sukhram was held guilty of possessing disproportionate assets worth Rs 4.25 crore and in 2002, he was awarded a three-year jail term under the Prevention of Corruption Act.