In 1996, Pandit (or Bandit) Sukh Ram's house was raided and a lot of cash & valuables were seized. He was the Telecom Minister in the cabinet of PV Narasimha Rao..
Well, is it 3 lakh or crore? If I remember correctly 3 crore was recovered from his pooja room and 1 cr from his bed room and documents illustrating his disproportionate assets. Is there any other case pending against him or is this the only one? Anyway if this 'simple' case would take about 15 long years the case of Kanimozhi, Raja & Company of the 2G fame might be decided earliest by 2030?
Pandit Sukh Ram as he is known (is he a pandit in corruption) has enjoyed his life all along except for a short stint in prison. Now at the far evening of his life how does it matter whatever punishment he is awarded? The question always remains if he will undergo the same or appeal in the higher echelons of Indian Judiciary and seek concessions or simpler and even shorter sentence citing his age and health. It is also possible that he would cocoon himself in an ICU of his favourite hospital. Is an example being set - whatever be the corruption, a short stay in prison and free life for 15 years and then a short prison stint; if you are lucky and know to put the money in the right places a comfortable life too in the prison? Or is it made clear however high or mighty one may be, he / she will still have to face the law of the land and abide by it? Should India praise its judiciary and jurisprudence along with the anti corruption forces or shrug this as an one off case?
Talking of anti corruption agencies, doesn't it appear that Sukh Ram ( I have stripped him off his title - don't know how much he paid to get it) was selectively targeted. Can any one say for sure that there was no other corrupt minister in the entire Govt during all the 5 years that he P V Narasimha Rao so diligently ruled. After this, I think it is only the present set of central ministers that have been imprisoned? Could it be that there never was a single corrupt minister all these 15 years barring the present group? As usual in cases like this, it raises more questions than it answers!
when sukhram was punished at the time of crime held, it had some sense, whereas punishing after aged 86 is not a legal but nonsen..s.e. It definitely make laughing at India by other nations. If so, we can expect a punishment on our youth ministers at thier 30 age.
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