Nagpur: Delivering a blow, the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected the Congress leader Sunil Kedar’s plea to stay conviction in the Rs 170 crore Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB) scam.
Kedar was convicted by a Special Court on December 22, 2023, for misappropriating bank funds by purchasing govt securities using illegal resolutions and forged documents. This led to his disqualification as MLA in January this year. Sunil Kedar’s problems are likely to increase after this decision of the High Court.
After Kedar was convicted in the scam committed in 2000 and 2001, he and other four were sentenced to five-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 12.5 lakh. The Sessions Court had upheld this sentence on December 30 last year.
Meanwhile, a scam of crores of rupees was exposed in Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank in 2002. Sunil Kedar was the chairman of the bank at that time. Kedar is also the main accused in the case. As the private company went bankrupt, the money of the farmers was also lost. After that, a case was registered against Kedar along with some people.
The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court last week reserved its judgment on Sunil Kedar’s plea seeking a stay on his conviction in the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB) scam. Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke had closed the case for order after an exhaustive hearing marked by intense arguments from senior counsels representing both prosecution and defence.
Representing Kedar, senior counsel Surendra Kumar Mishra argued that his client, a five-time elected representative from Saoner Assembly constituency, has been unjustly deprived of his ability to serve his constituency. He emphasized that Kedar had no prior criminal record and had already suffered significantly due to the conviction. He cited various Supreme Court verdicts to support his contention that a strong case exists for staying the conviction.
Senior counsel Siddarth Dave, representing the prosecution, contended that stay on conviction for public representatives are granted only in rare and exceptional circumstances. He pointed out inconsistencies in the case, noting that the prayers changed between the Sessions Court and HC. He referenced Supreme Court judgments involving Rema Narang, Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, arguing that there was no pressing need for Kedar to serve his constituency with the Assembly polls just three months away.
