New Delhi/Shimla : Former telecom minister Sukh Ram, who was to surrender in a graft case, has slipped into coma, his counsel told a Delhi court Friday. The 84-year-old has been undergoing treatment at a hospital in the national capital.
“Sukh Ram is in coma after undergoing angiography, so he cannot move from the hospital,” Sukh Ram’s counsel D.S. Patiyl said.
Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge Dharmesh Sharma listed the matter for Saturday as the concerned judge is on leave.
The judge also added he cannot go beyond the Delhi High Court order, as the high court had asked Sukh Ram to surrender before the trial court.
On Thursday, Sukh Ram’s counsel told the court the former minister could not surrender as he was undergoing medical treatment following angiography.
The 1993 telecom scam for which Sukh Ram has been convicted involved award of a contract to a Hyderabad firm for supplying telecom equipment to the government at exorbitant rates.
Sukh Ram was accused of showing undue favour to a cable supply company and accepting Rs.3 lakh in a bribe.
In 2002, Sukh Ram was awarded a three-year jail term under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
In another case, he was held guilty of possessing disproportionate assets worth Rs.4.25 crore in 2009.
The former minister’s son Anil Sharma, who is a legislator from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, said his father has been feeling drowsy since he underwent a procedure in hospital in Delhi Thursday.
“He is not in a condition to move as he underwent angiography in Metro Hospital,” Sharma said.
The doctors, he added, advised him complete bed rest for a few days. The former minister belongs to Mandi town and commands influence in the area.
IANS
