NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Monday put on hold the jail term awarded to two former directors of M/s Adhunik Corporation Ltd for forging documents and cheating the government to get the allocation of the New Patrpara coal block in Odisha.
Justice Anu Malhotra stayed the sentence of Mahesh Kumar Agarwal and Nirmal Kumar Agarwal, noting that it is unlikely that the two will evade the process of law. The two brothers argued that the high court was expected to take years to decide their appeals against the trial court verdict that sentenced them to jail for four years.
The judge observed that the trial took more than six years to complete and the two brothers were not accused of any other crime in the past.
The brothers were sentenced to serve four years in jail and a fine of ₹30 lakh each on April 20, The trial court concluded that, as alleged by the Central Bureau of Investigation, M/s Adhunik Corporation Ltd misrepresented various aspects to the ministries of steel and coal to cheat them and be allocated the Patrapara coal block.
The brothers filed appeals against their conviction and sought suspension of the prison term.
Appearing for the two brothers, senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi and lawyer Vijay Aggarwal argued that there was no loss to the exchequer due to the alleged acts of their clients.
Singhvi underlined that the appeal was not likely to be decided in near future, especially in the next four years which is the jail term awarded to his client. He added that the two have paid the ₹30 lakh fine imposed on them.
Advocate Vijay Aggarwal argued that the appeal is a continuation of trial and the principles of natural justice provided for one statutory appeal.
“Due to the heavy pendency in Delhi high court, disposal of appeal will take several years in getting justice for my client. A table has also been submitted to the court giving a summary of all coal matters where an appeal has been filed against conviction,” he said.
CBI opposed the request for suspension of sentence and contended that the accused have committed a grave economic offence and due to their actions, the country’s natural resources could not be used for the benefit of its people and the brothers are involved in the coal scam, infamously known as the “Coalgate scam”. It said the loss to the exchequer due to the scam was pegged at ₹10.76 lakh crore.
The matter was reserved for a final verdict on May 18..
The court suspended the sentence of both the accused till the pendency of the appeal without going into the merits of the matter and asked the convicts to furnish a personal bond of Rs. 1,50,000 with a surety of the like amount.
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