Sentence suspension of Guj min Babu Bokhiria challenged in HC

An RTI activist today moved the Gujarat High Court seeking cancellation of the order of a sessions court suspending the three-year jail term granted to state Water Resource Minister Babu Bokhiria in an illegal limestone mining case.
The petitioner Dilip Kataria has requested the high court to set aside the Porbandar sessions court's order, dated July 20, 2013, suspending Bokhiria's conviction.
Kataria said the order was "wrong" and as a convict Bokhiria has to undergo the sentence.
Justice S G Shah adjourned the hearing on the petition and is likely to hear it tomorrow.
Bokhiria and three others Bharat Odedara, Bhima Dula Odedara and Lakshman Bhima Odedara were convicted by the court of chief judicial magistrate C V Pandya on June 15 in a Rs 54 crore illegal mining case of 2006.

Bokhiria challenged the order before the Porbandar sessions court demanding a stay on his conviction contending that not suspending the conviction would cause him irreparable damage.
His application was allowed by the sessions court on July 20, considering Bokhiria's current position as a cabinet minister in the state and suspended his sentence.