New Delhi,August, 23 (Representative) A Delhi court on Tuesday accepted the bail bond of Former Ministry of Steel official who was punished with three years rigorous imprisonment in a coal block scam case related to alleged irregularities in the allocation of a coal block in Chhattisgarh.Counsel for convict after hearing there years sentence moved an application on behalf of convict G.K. Basak by seeking 30 days’ time for depositing the fine of Rs.5 lacs. He further moved an applications u/s 389(3) Cr.PC on behalf of convict Goutam Kumar Basak seekingsuspension of sentence in order to enable him to file appeal in theHon’ble Delhi High Court.CBI Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj after hearing the applications said, ” Thus, bail has been prayed for on behalf of convict so that in the meantime he may prefer appeal before the Hon’ble Delhi High Court. Heard. Perused.Keeping in view the submissions made and the overall facts and circumstances of the case, it is deemed appropriate to suspend the substantive period of imprisonment as awarded to convict Goutam Kumar Basak for a period of 60 days and to admit him to bail upon his furnishing a personal bond and a surety bond in the sum of Rs. 50,000/- each and also subject to the condition of depositing the entire fine amount as imposed upon him.
It is further directed that till the filing of appeal i.e., for a period of 60 days the convict Goutam Kumar Basak shall not travel abroad, unless specific permission in this regard isgranted by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court.” “Bail bond of the convict Goutam Kumar Basak has been furnished and accepted for a period of 60 days and subject to deposit of fine amount within 30 days” the court said.In this matter after hearing the arguments on the quantum of sentence the court has punished Basak and said,” Considering the overall facts and circumstances, in the opinion of this court, ends of justice would be met by awarding Goutam Kumar Basak rigourous imprisonment fora period of three years for the offence under section 13 (2)read with section 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Additionally, the convict shall pay a fine of Rs. 5,00,000/-. In the event of failure to pay the fine, the convict shall undergo simple imprisonment for a period of three month”. The court at the time of passing the judgment said, ” Sentencing is the most important stage after conclusion of the trial in a criminal case.
At this stage, the mitigating circumstances as well as aggravating circumstances have to be considered by the court before deciding the sentence and there cannot be any standard formula which the courts can apply even in the case of convictions for similar offence by different convicts in same case/in different cases. Circumstances of each convict, most of the time, are peculiar and unique. Sentencing should neither be too lenient otherwise the law loses its deterrence, nor it shouldbe harsher than required”. Government counsel after filing written submissions on the point of sentence has prayed to maximum sentence and heaviest amount of fine while Counsel for convict requested for leniency in sentencing on the basis of age factors and health ground. Prosecution has alleged that Prakash Industries Ltd., which had applied for the coal block in January 2007, had furnished false information about its capacity and ministry had directed Basak to ascertain the truth of the allegation.Prosecution has alleged that steel ministry official submitted a false report in 2008 supporting the claims made by the company.