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On December 13, 2017, Koda, former coal secretary H C Gupta, former Jharkhand chief secretary A K Basu, and Koda’s aide Vijay Joshi were sentenced to three years in prison for corruption and conspiracy in allocating the Rajhara North Coal Block to Kolkata-based company Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Limited (VISUL). The court also fined VISUL Rs 50 lakh, Koda Rs 25 lakh, and Gupta and Basu Rs 1 lakh each. All convicts were granted bail during their appeals
The Supreme Court of India has dismissed former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda’s plea seeking suspension of conviction in the Coal scam case.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanja Kumar had yesterday agreed to take up Koda's plea today after having said that it had not gone through the papers.
Koda sought said relief to contest in upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections.
Delhi High Court recently had also dismissed Koda's plea seeking suspension of conviction for offences under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (PCA) following which he approached the Supreme Court.
It is Koda's case that he belongs to the Scheduled Tribe 'Ho' community from the Kolhan region of Jharkhand and that a stay on his conviction would allow him to contest the upcoming elections in Jharkhand, scheduled for November-December 2024.
High Court's bench presided over by Justice Neena Bansal Krishna while dismissing the plea of the petitioner (Madhu Koda) quoted Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, said that “the right to represent,” as opposed to the “right to representation,” is not an unlimited right but is dependent upon “a certain social attitude of a candidate as a condition precedent to the recognition to the right to represent..”
Highlighting that the position of law has been consistent with respect to decriminalisation of politics, the high court rejected Koda's contention that there has been a change in circumstances and in law and reiterated that said principle continues to hold the ground to date.
High court had further recalled that Koda had previously filed an application for suspension of conviction which was dismissed in 2020.
In 2017, Madhu Koda, former Jharkhand Chief Minister, was convicted of corruption and conspiracy in the allocation of a Jharkhand-based coal block and sentenced to three years of imprisonment.
Case Title: Madhu Koda vs. CBI
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