4 yrs RI for Telgi, 5 others

4 yrs RI for Telgi, 5 others

Hyderabad: Fake stamp paper scam kingpin Abdul Karim Telgi and five others were today sentenced to four-years rigorous imprisonment by a special CBI court here after they pleaded guilty in the case


Judge V Raghunath Rao pronounced the terms for Telgi, P Abdul Waheed, Thomas Jacob, Badruddin K Jamadar, B Sadasiva and K Mohd Yousuf after they pleaded guilty on charges under section 120-B of Indian Penal Code (IPC) pertaining to criminal conspiracy and under sections 258 (Sale and circulation of fake stamps), 260 (possession of fake stamps) and 420 (cheating) of IPC , with fine of Rs 500 each.


The judge, however, dropped charges under IPC section 255 dealing with counterfeiting (printing) of government stamp papers against Telgi on the grounds of lack of material evidence. The court also found them guilty under section 69 (B) of Indian Stamp Act and imposed sentences of six months simple imprisonment.


Telgi's advocate Farhatullah told reporters that his client confessed his involvement in the scam.


The judgment has come in one of the two cases registered against Telgi and his associated in Hyderabad.


The CBI has not yet filed chargesheet in the other case. Telgi faces about 50 cases in the fake stamp paper scam in different parts of the country.


All the sentences will run concurrently. The judge in his orders also directed that the remand period if any undergone by all the accused is set off under section 428 CrPC. Telgi, currently lodged in a Bangalore jail, was brought by an escort police party of Karnataka and produced in the court on January 20, which posted the case for framing of charges today.

The CBI had filed a charge sheet in the court against Telgi and five others after the case was transferred to the agency by Hyderabad Police in 2004.

Telgi pleads guilty- Gets 13 Years Jail

Pune, June 28 (IANS) Abdul Karim Telgi, the prime accused in the multi-billion rupee fake stamp paper scam, was Thursday sentenced to 13 years in jail and fined Rs.500 million by a special court here Thursday after he pleaded guilty to all charges against him.

Additional Sessions Judge Chitra K. Bedi said the convict would have to undergo an additional jail term of three years if he fails to pay the fine.

The judge of the special court, set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), also sentenced 42 co-accused to jail terms ranging from one year to seven years.

Pronouncing the sentences, the judge observed that the court might have passed much more strict sentence had the accused not pleaded guilty.

This was the first and the most important in a series of 49 cases related to the Rs.30 billion scandal of issuing fake stamp papers.

It was this case that took the lid off the scam, masterminded by the 46-year-old stamp vendor and spread over nearly a dozen states.

The Bundgarden police here had registered the case after seizure of fake government stamps and stamp papers from a car in 2002. It was later transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The scandal involved large-scale printing, circulation and sale of counterfeit government stamp papers and other security instruments by an organised crime syndicate headed by Telgi.

Earlier in the day, Telgi pleaded guilty amid high drama in the courtroom.With folded hands and tearful eyes, he answered the judge's queries and said he was aware of the huge loss to the national exchequer caused by his actions.

Saying "sorry" to the country for his crime, he added that his wife had persuaded him to admit his guilt unconditionally.

Following his confession, Telgi's counsel Harshad Nimbalkar appealed to the court to take a lenient view on punishing him and take into account his HIV-positive status.

CBI counsel Raja Thakre opposed the plea, saying, "A lenient view of this criminal who is now shedding crocodile tears should not influence the quantum of sentence as it will send wrong signals to the people and imply that anyone can get away softly despite the magnitude of the crime."

Telgi, currently lodged in Yerwada Central Jail here, had Wednesday conveyed his desire to plead guilty through his counsel after 42 of his co-accused had done the same.

In a sensational disclosure during a narco-analysis test in 2003, Telgi had named several powerful politicians and officials as his accomplices. But all of the politicians named by him had denied charges.

The CBI had also filed charge sheets against former Mumbai Police Commissioner R.S. Sharma and two other senior police officers, but they were discharged Wednesday by the court for lack of evidence.

Telgi's first conviction came in January last year, when the Pune court sentenced him to 10 years in prison for counterfeiting government stamps.

In March this year, a special court in Bangalore sentenced him to another 10 years in jail for forgery and cheating. Subsequently, he was given terms of 15 years and seven years in two more cases.

Telgi's third sentence came in April when the special court sentenced him to 15 years for forgery and conspiring to cheat the state.

On June 21, the same court sentenced him to seven years in prison for bribing two government doctors to get a fake medical certificate to secure bail.

Three Mumbai cops cleared of charges in stamp paper scam

Pune, June 27 (IANS) A special court in Pune framing charges in the multi-million rupees fake stamp paper scam Wednesday cleared a former Mumbai police commissioner and two other police officers of all charges.

The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court, which Tuesday framed charges against prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi and 42 others, Wednesday discharged former Mumbai police commissioner R.S. Sharma, former deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Pradeep Sawant and suspended inspector of police Vashist Andhale for lack of evidence.

Special Judge Chitra Bhedi said that the prosecution did not have enough evidence against them.

All the three had been in judicial custody before being granted bail.

Prior to his arrest, Sharma was tipped for the top police post in Maharashtra. He has since retied.

The special court Tuesday rejected the applications of the accused challenging their prosecution under the stringent MCOCA act.

Charges were framed against Telgi and others including 26 of his former employees for being members of an organised crime syndicate, which conspired to impersonate, posses, fabricate, forge and market fake government stamps and stamp papers to the detriment of the state.

While 40 pleaded guilty except to charges under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Telgi denied all charges against him and pleaded "not guilty".

The court had Tuesday discharged a former stamp vendor, Madhav Mutta Devadia, who had been named a conspirator. Telgi had allegedly misused the government license granted to Devadia to sell stamps and stamp papers.

If convicted, the accused face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

Charges against 21 other accused were also framed Tuesday.