Nagpur (Maharashtra): A magistrate court on Friday sentenced Congress MLA and former Maharashtra minister Sunil Kedar and five others to a five-year jail term for misappropriation of funds at the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB).
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate JV Pekhle-Purkar pronounced judgement in the case which dates back to 2002 and the six were also fined Rs 10 lakh each. The development comes as a major jolt to the Maharashtra Congress, ahead of the December 28 visit of party president Mallikarjun Kharge and the party's top brass including Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi among others.
According to court, Kedar was the primary accused in the scam. Others found guilty include general manager Ashok Choudhary, Ketan Seth, Amit Verma, Subodh Bhandari and Nandkishore Trivedi. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Pekhle-Purkar in her judgement said the Kedar and one other accused were entrusted with the entire stake of the bank, adding that the fund in question was hard-earned money of the people, most of whom are poor farmers.
According to the prosecution, Sunil Kedar was involved in a case where the bank incurred a loss of Rs 125 crore in 2002. The court pointed out that the objective of the cooperative sector is to enhance the status of the economically marginalised sections of society.
Kedar and Ashok Choudhary were entrusted to invest the funds in the manner prescribed by the law but they committed breach of trust and such criminal breach of trust is a serious offence, the judge said in her order.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said, "Rs 400 crore #HomeTrade Scam of #SanjayAgarwal & Cooperative Banks was exposed in 2002. I had raised, pursued the issue in Parliament, RBI & Govt since 2002. Today Nagpur Court declared Congress Minister #SunilKedar GUILTY."
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