Sukh Ram sentenced to 3 years in jail, fined Rs 2 lakh

NEW DELHI: Talking tough on political corruption, a city court here on Wednesday awarded three years of imprisonment to former Union minister Sukh Ram for amassing properties disproportionate to his known source of income during his tenure in the Narsimha Rao government.

He was the minister of state for communications between 1991 and 1996. Special CBI Judge VK Maheshwari also ordered forfeiture of Rs 4.25 crore amassed by him during his tenure, besides slapping a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him.

���A corrupt public servant is a menace to the society. Political corruption is the worst form as its consequences are far reaching. When the leaders, who are role models of the society, are themselves corrupt, how can we expect honesty and virtue from the public at large��� said court in its 6-page terse order.

The judge said, ���If public servants are corrupt, the whole structure of the society would get upset and government policies, howsoever beneficial it may be, would be adversely affected.���

The court said the welfare of the society could be ensured only through ���honest and uncorrupted public servants���. The CBI has proved that Sukh Ram had accumulated disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 4.25 crore beyond his known sources of income and the minister could not satisfactorily explain how he acquired so much wealth.

���Corrupt public servants should not be allowed to reap the benefit of corruption sowed by them,��� the judge said. Sukh Ram had contended that the cash with him was meant for the Congress party fund but that was refuted by senior Congress leaders.