India News | Delhi Court Stays 7 Year Jail Term Awarded to Ex-MLA, Wife in Cheating Case
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. A Delhi court on Thursday stayed the seven-year jail terms awarded to former MLA Ranbir Singh Kharb and his wife Anita Kharb in a case of cheating of investors between 1998 and 2004.
New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) A Delhi court on Thursday stayed the seven-year jail terms awarded to former MLA Ranbir Singh Kharb and his wife Anita Kharb in a case of cheating of investors between 1998 and 2004.
Special Judge M K Nagpal passed the order on an application moved by Kharbs against the orders of the magisterial court, which convicted the couples and awarded them jail terms.
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The counsel for the convicts submitted before the court that the decision of the appeal may take some time and it will be unjust if the appellants are kept confined till then.
He further submitted that magisterial court's judgment was not legally tenable and that it failed to appreciate the evidence on record in right perspectives.
"Hence, in view of the submissions being made, the above sentence of imprisonment awarded to the appellants is being suspended till disposal of the present appeal and during the pendency thereof, they both are being directed to be released on bail on furnishing of a personal bond in the sum of Rs 25,000 each with one surety of the like amount each," the judge said.
The counsel appearing for Ranbir Singh Kharb, 62, and Anita Kharb, 56, told the court that the appellants had been in custody for around 39 months and 30 months, respectively, during pendency of the proceedings and trial of the case.
The counsel submitted that the convicts also suffer from some age-related ailments.
The Kharbs were convicted for cheating and criminal conspiracy, and were awarded seven-year jail terms each. They were also directed by the court to pay a fine of Rs 22 lakh each.
According to the prosecution, the convicts fraudulently and dishonestly induced complainant Pravin Kumar to invest money in a company.
Kumar invested a sum of Rs 23 lakh, without getting any return or refund, it claimed.
Ranbir Singh Dahiya, another of their victim, was defrauded of Rs 1.34 crore, the prosecution claimed.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot sentenced Ranbir Singh Kharb and Anita Kharb on February 24.
The prosecution had alleged that Kharbs had committed offences of cheating, criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy and defrauded several investors, most of whom were their relatives, in the name of "investments" in their company Jyoti Fair Finance Company.
It was alleged that the accused between 1998 and 2004 hatched a criminal conspiracy to cheat the general public, through a scheme floated through a finance company.
According to the prosecution, the accused induced the general public to invest in the company by alluring them with high interest rates and monetary gains. They never had the intention to return the money.
Whatever payments, if at all made, were made to further lure/induce the innocent investors to make further investments.
Anita Kharb was the Director of the of the company. She gave receipts in the name of company and indulged in luring victims for investments, it claimed.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)