Ex-Speaker gets 7-year jail in graft case

Legal Correspondent/ PTI

New Delhi, August 26

A CBI court here today sentenced INLD leader and former Haryana Assembly Speaker Satbir Singh Kadian to 7 years in jail for committing irregularities when he was heading Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) Ltd in 1989-91. The CBI had registered an FIR in 1993 under the Prevention of Corruption Act against the accused.

Besides 66-year-old Kadian, Special CBI Judge Jitendra Kumar Mishra also awarded seven-year jail term to 64-year-old Vinayak Narayan Deosthali, former Assistant Manager (Funds) of UCO Bank, 65-year-old IIT alumni Anil Kumar Malhotra and 70-year- old Sunil Gorawara, former Senior Manager (Deposits) of UCO Bank.

The court also sentenced 84-year-old Karuna Pati Pandey, former Senior Manager (Cash) of UCO Bank, to two years imprisonment considering his old age and that he was facing financial burden and had suffered punishment during trial for a single mistake or offence committed by him.

Refusing to show any leniency to Kadian, the court said he was a role model for the country, including Haryana, and if such persons would be given minimum punishment, it would affect the morale of the entire nation.

According to the CBI, while working as IFFCO chairman, Kadian had invested Rs 32.90 crore, the surplus fund of IFFCO at lower rate of interest and caused a loss of over Rs 15 lakh to the organisation.

It said in one transaction of Rs 4 crore meant for UCO Bank, New Delhi, for investment, the money was dishonestly and fraudulently diverted to the personal account of accused share broker Harshad Shantilal Mehta (now dead) through his Delhi-based representative.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh, Rs 5 lakh, Rs 25 lakh, Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50,000 on Kadian, Deosthali, Malhotra, Gorawara and Pandey, respectively.

It said that out of the total fine collected, 25 per cent should be paid to the CBI towards litigation expenses and 75 per cent to the state.