HC suspends Dilip Ray’s sentence

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Tuesday suspended the threeyear jail term awarded to Dilip Ray, the former Union minister of state for coal, a day after the sentence was handed down by a special CBI court after a conviction in a coal scam case.

Ray, along with three others, was given a rigorous three-year jail term by Special CBI judge Bharat Parashar on Monday for allegedly conspiring to allocate Brahmadiha coal block in Giridih, Jharkhand, to a private company -- Castron Technologies Ltd -- in 1999 despite the fact that the government at the time was a ‘caretaker’ administration that should not have taken a major policy decision.

Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for Ray, sought urgent intervention of the high court in the matter, terming his client’s conviction and sentencing as illegal. Justice Suresh Kumar Kait agreed to hear the matter on urgent basis despite being on vacation.

The judge suspended the sentencing and listed the appeal for hearing on November 25, to which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) did not object.

Aggarwal had challenged both – the conviction dated October 6 and the Monday sentencing by the special CBI judge. The Delhi high court refused to stay the conviction but suspended the sentencing, while agreeing to hear the appeal on next hearing on November 25 and allowing Ray to remain on bail.