Former Indian telecom minister Sukhram, convicted for taking Rs 300,000 as bribe to give a lucrative contract to a private firm in 1996, was on Saturday sentenced to five years in jail by a Delhi court. He pleaded for leniency in court on grounds of his old age while the CBI called him a “habitual offender” and sought maximum punishment for him, Indian media reports said.The 86-year-old Sukhram was held guilty for misusing his official position during his tenure as telecom minister in PV Narasimha Rao’s cabinet in giving a contract worth Rs 30 crore to private firm Haryana Telecom Limited (HTL) to supply 3.5 Lakh Conductor Kilometers (LCKM) of Polythene Insulated Jelly Filled (PIJF) cables to the telecom department. He was held guilty on Thursday under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code. Various offences under which he has been convicted entail a maximum sentence of 7 years jail term.
