NAGPUR: After a magisterial court convicted Congress MLA Sunil Kedar in the Rs 150 crore Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB) scam, the Maharashtra legislature secretariat immediately disqualified him from Saturday.
A gazette notification issued by legislature secretary Jitendra Bhole mentioned that the former Saoner minister was convicted under sections 406, 409, 468, 471, 120 (B), 34 of IPC by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM).He was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 12.5 lakh on Friday.
According to the notification, ‘Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar stands disqualified from being a member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly from the date of his December 22, 2023, conviction.’ The disqualification was cited under Article 191 (1) (e) of the Constitution of India, read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Consequently, in line with Article 190 (3) (a) of the Constitution, his MLA seat became vacant from the same date.
Kedar’s lawyer, Deven Chauhan, stated they would approach the sessions court on Tuesday to challenge CJM Jyoti Pekhle-Purkar’s judgment of Friday. ‘We will seek suspension of conviction, stay, suspension of sentence, and bail,’ he told TOI.
Agreeing with his views, Bhole, who issued the notification, remarked that the disqualification process was automatic following the court’s conviction of an elected representative for over two years, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives.
‘We received the CJM’s order and Nagpur police’s letter on Saturday morning, which we forwarded to Speaker Rahul Narwekar for his decision. Subsequently, we issued this notification,’ Bhole explained from Mumbai.
Bhole added that if the sessions court granted a stay on the conviction, then Kedar’s disqualification could be reversed. ‘Staying the conviction on the first day of the hearing is challenging. However, if the sentence is stayed or he gets bail, it won’t pose an issue. The notification will be sent to the Election Commission of India (ECI) along with our letter, leaving the decision on conducting by-polls in Saoner to them,’ he concluded.
The NDCCB case verdict came out two decades after it was first unearthed in 2002, with Kedar named as the prime accused.
The Rs 150 crore NDCCB scam, known as the G-Secs scam, saw the special court on Friday sentencing six accused, including former minister Kedar, to five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposing a Rs 12.50 lakh fine on each of them.
Kedar was accused of violating rules by investing bank funds through M/s Home Trade Securities, owned by Sanjay Agrawal. The firm neither purchased securities nor repaid the funds, resulting in Kedar’s suspension from the NCP and subsequent joining of Congress. Following the scandal, NDCCB’s board of directors was dismissed, and an administrator was appointed to oversee the bank’s operations.
Subsequently, Kedar and 11 others were charged for the 2002 scam, involving former general manager Ashok Choudhary, chief accountant Suresh Peshkar, Mahendra Agrawal, Shreeprakash Poddar, Subodh Bhandari, Kanan Mewawala, Nandkishor Trivedi, Amit Verma, and stockbroker Ketan Seth from Mumbai. All were charged under sections 406, 409, 468, 471, 120-B, and 34 of IPC.
The court convicted Choudhary, Bhandari, Trivedi, Verma, Seth, and Kedar, acquitting Poddar, Agrawal, and Peshkar. Sanjay Agrawal received a Bombay High Court stay order, while Mewawala has been absconding since then.
A gazette notification issued by legislature secretary Jitendra Bhole mentioned that the former Saoner minister was convicted under sections 406, 409, 468, 471, 120 (B), 34 of IPC by the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM).He was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 12.5 lakh on Friday.
According to the notification, ‘Sunil Chhatrapal Kedar stands disqualified from being a member of the Maharashtra legislative assembly from the date of his December 22, 2023, conviction.’ The disqualification was cited under Article 191 (1) (e) of the Constitution of India, read with Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Consequently, in line with Article 190 (3) (a) of the Constitution, his MLA seat became vacant from the same date.
Kedar’s lawyer, Deven Chauhan, stated they would approach the sessions court on Tuesday to challenge CJM Jyoti Pekhle-Purkar’s judgment of Friday. ‘We will seek suspension of conviction, stay, suspension of sentence, and bail,’ he told TOI.
Agreeing with his views, Bhole, who issued the notification, remarked that the disqualification process was automatic following the court’s conviction of an elected representative for over two years, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives.
‘We received the CJM’s order and Nagpur police’s letter on Saturday morning, which we forwarded to Speaker Rahul Narwekar for his decision. Subsequently, we issued this notification,’ Bhole explained from Mumbai.
Bhole added that if the sessions court granted a stay on the conviction, then Kedar’s disqualification could be reversed. ‘Staying the conviction on the first day of the hearing is challenging. However, if the sentence is stayed or he gets bail, it won’t pose an issue. The notification will be sent to the Election Commission of India (ECI) along with our letter, leaving the decision on conducting by-polls in Saoner to them,’ he concluded.
The NDCCB case verdict came out two decades after it was first unearthed in 2002, with Kedar named as the prime accused.
The Rs 150 crore NDCCB scam, known as the G-Secs scam, saw the special court on Friday sentencing six accused, including former minister Kedar, to five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposing a Rs 12.50 lakh fine on each of them.
Kedar was accused of violating rules by investing bank funds through M/s Home Trade Securities, owned by Sanjay Agrawal. The firm neither purchased securities nor repaid the funds, resulting in Kedar’s suspension from the NCP and subsequent joining of Congress. Following the scandal, NDCCB’s board of directors was dismissed, and an administrator was appointed to oversee the bank’s operations.
Subsequently, Kedar and 11 others were charged for the 2002 scam, involving former general manager Ashok Choudhary, chief accountant Suresh Peshkar, Mahendra Agrawal, Shreeprakash Poddar, Subodh Bhandari, Kanan Mewawala, Nandkishor Trivedi, Amit Verma, and stockbroker Ketan Seth from Mumbai. All were charged under sections 406, 409, 468, 471, 120-B, and 34 of IPC.
The court convicted Choudhary, Bhandari, Trivedi, Verma, Seth, and Kedar, acquitting Poddar, Agrawal, and Peshkar. Sanjay Agrawal received a Bombay High Court stay order, while Mewawala has been absconding since then.
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