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The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda's plea seeking direction to stay his conviction in a coal scam case, to contest upcoming polls.
The bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna dismissed the application, which Koda filed to enable him to contest in the upcoming assembly elections. Koda, along with ex-coal secretary H.C. Gupta, former Jharkhand chief secretary A.K. Basu, and aide Vijay Joshi, received three-year prison sentences for corruption and conspiracy related to the allocation of the Rajhara North coal block to Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd. Koda's plea argued that with elections in Jharkhand scheduled for November 2024, he risks being deprived of the chance to contest, given his history as a former Chief Minister and multiple-time MP/MLA, unless his conviction is stayed. The CBI opposed this application, citing maintainability, pointing out that a similar request had been denied in May 2020. CBI's Lawyers Senior Advocate R.S. Cheema and lawyer Tarannum Cheema emphasized that the previous court had thoroughly considered the issue of decriminalizing politics and dismissed Koda's application without appeal, allowing that judgment to stand. In 2017, a Delhi court convicted Koda of criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act, sentencing him to three years in prison and imposing a fine of INR 5 lakh. Although he was granted bail and a stay on the fine in 2018, the Delhi High Court rejected a stay on his conviction in 2020. Now, four years later, Koda again approached the High Court, citing new factual and legal developments as he seeks to stay on his conviction, noting that his criminal appeal has been pending since 2017 and the case has not been scheduled for a hearing. (ANI)
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