On Tuesday, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court granted bail to Sunil Kedar, a disqualified Congress MLA who was recently convicted in a bank scam. Additionally, the court temporarily suspended his sentence. Kedar, a five-term MLA from Saoner in Nagpur district, had received a five-year jail sentence on December 22, 2023, from a magistrate's court. The conviction was related to irregularities at the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB), where he had served as chairman from 1999 to 2002.
Last week, the sessions court had rejected his plea seeking a stay to the conviction and sentence, and also refused him bail. Kedar's lawyers Sunil Manohar and Devendra Chauhan then moved the HC. Justice Urmila Joshi on Tuesday granted interim suspension of the sentence pending hearing of the appeal filed by Kedar against the conviction, and granted him bail.
Following the judgment, the Congress leader, who had been out on bail during the trial, was taken into custody and is currently incarcerated at the Nagpur central jail. In his appeal, he contends that the trial court made errors in assessing critical evidence. Furthermore, he argues that being a senior citizen, the prolonged 21-year trial has adversely affected his health.
Sunil Kedar emphasized that he diligently adhered to all bail conditions throughout the trial. His appeal seeks a reevaluation of the evidence presented during the trial and underscores the impact on his health due to the protracted legal proceedings. The magistrate convicted Kedar and five others of criminal breach of trust, criminal conspiracy, forgery and other relevant offences under the Indian Penal Code. Besides jail term, a fine of Rs 12.5 lakh was also imposed on each of them.