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New Delhi, April 8
The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed the conviction of former union minister Dilip Ray, who was sentenced to three-year jail term in a coal scam case pertaining to irregularities in the allocation of a Jharkhand block in 1999, to enable him to contest the upcoming Odisha legislative assembly elections.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma allowed Ray’s application in which he sought a stay on the conviction and said if the conviction is not suspended, it would lead to an irreversible consequence in case he is acquitted at a later stage.
“In case the applicant’s (Ray) prayer is not allowed, he will lose chance to contest election and an irreversible consequence and irreversible damage to his political career and desire to serve his constituency will be caused to him….,” the court said.
The high court directed that Ray’s conviction in the case shall stand stayed during the pendency of his appeal against his conviction and sentence by the trial court.
Ray was sentenced to three years in jail on October 26, 2020 by a trial court which had also imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on him.
Ray, 71, was Minister of State (coal) in the erstwhile Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He said in his petition that he wishes to contest the upcoming Odisha Assembly elections and this could be his last chance to serve the people.
Ray, who was represented by senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Pramod Kumar Dubey, said in the plea that by virtue of Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People Act, he stands disqualified from contesting the upcoming national or Odisha Assembly elections or getting nominated to the Rajya Sabha which irreparably and irreversibly causes grave prejudice to him, especially considering his age.
Senior advocate RS Cheema and lawyer Tarannum Cheema, appearing for the CBI, had opposed the plea saying Ray did not merit a suspension of conviction in view of the extent of corruption involved. Moreover, the matter arises from a class of coal block allocation cases.
The probe agency said in view of the seriousness of the offence and the insufficiency of the sentence awarded to Ray, CBI had preferred an appeal for enhancement of his punishment before the high court which admitted the appeal in May 2022.
The court clarified that this order does not amount to acquittal but is merely suspension of conviction in peculiar circumstances of the case.
The trial court had convicted Ray of the offences of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust by public servant and cheating under the IPC and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The court had said Ray “dishonestly facilitated” allocation of the abandoned non-nationalised coal mining area in favour of a company named Castron Technologies Ltd (CTL) in violation of law.
The case pertains to allocation of Brahmadiha coal block in Jharkhand’s Giridih district to CTL in 1999.
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