The Delhi High Court has suspended the sentence against Sukhram in a graft case and granted grants him bail.
The Delhi High Court today granted bail to former Telecom Minister Sukhram in a 15-year-old graft case and suspended his sentence of 5-year jail in the case lodged for taking bribe to award a contract to a firm.
"Without commenting on the merits of the impugned judgment and keeping in view the fact that the appellant convict is 86 years-old and suffering from various ailments.... I suspend the sentence till disposal of the case and enlarge him on bail," Justice Suresh Kait said.
The court asked Sukhram to furnish a personal and two surety of Rs10 lakh each as a pre-condition of bail and asked him to surrender his passport.
It considered the fact that the leader was suffering from various age-related ailments, including diabetes, and had also undergone the coronary bypass grafting way back in 1995.
It said the medical report, submitted by the jail authorities, discussed that he was also suffering from cervical spondylitis.
The CBI opposed his bail saying he was convicted twice earlier and is a habitual offender.
Sukhram, who had held the Telecom portfolio in PV Narasimha Rao's cabinet, was convicted on November 17 in a cable contract case. He was handed out five years jail term by Special CBI judge RP Pandey on November 19 and sent to jail.
He was convicted for misusing his official position during his tenure as Telecom Minister in award of a contract worth Rs30 crore to Haryana Telecom Limited (HTL), a private firm, to supply 3.5 lakh conductor kilometres (LCKM) of PIJF cables to the telecom department after taking Rs3 lakh as bribe.
Sukhram had earlier been convicted in two separate corruption cases in 2002 and 2009 but remained out of jail after suspension of his sentence.
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