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Delhi court to sentence Sukh Ram today

— PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA

Former Union Communication Minister Sukh Ram(centre) at Tis Hazari Court in New Delhi on Tuesday .

New Delhi: A Delhi court will pronounce on Wednesday the punishment for the indicted former Communications Minister Sukh Ram for amassing illegal assets worth over Rs.4.25 crore during his stint in the Narasimha Rao government with the CBI seeking the maximum seven-year jail term.

The octogenarian politician, on the other hand, pleaded before Special CBI Judge V. K. Maheshwari to take a lenient view due to his “good” track record as a minister.

The court after hearing the arguments on quantum of sentence from the CBI and the Congress leader said it would pronounce its order on Wednesday.

The Himachal Pradesh leader, from whose houses the CBI seized a whopping Rs 3.61 crore in cash 13 years ago, was held guilty by the court on February 20 under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act dealing with criminal misconduct by a public servant. “The convict was a minister in the Government of India and wealth was collected during his tenure as a public servant. He is liable for the maximum sentence,” Special CBI prosecutor Gurdial Singh submitted before the court. Sukh Ramcame to court in a black suit and later indicated his plan to challenge the verdict in the High Court.

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