| Username |
Post |
| mabi |
Posted
on 12-Oct-00 11:02 AM
Ex-Indian PM sentenced
to jail
Charges of bribery during a crucial parliamentary vote .The former Indian prime minister, PV Narasimha Rao, has been sentenced to three years in prison for corruption.
The charges relate to a bribery scandal during his term in office. Last month Mr Rao, 79,was convicted for giving hundreds ofthousands of dollars in
bribes to members of a
regional party in 1993,
to back his Congress
government in a crucial
parliamentary vote of
no-confidence.
A cabinet colleague, Buta Singh, also received
a three-year sentence. But the judge, Ajit
Bharihoke, granted both men bail until 8
November, to allow them to appeal to a higher
court.
The BBC's Jill McGivering says the case is seen
as a landmark in India with prosecutors urging
the judge to make an example of Mr Rao, to
serve as a deterrent to those who serve high
office.
"The high office they have held should not
come in the way of getting a fitting
punishment," prosecutor RN Tiwari argued.
But our correspondent says the sentence will
be seen by many as a compromise - Mr Rao
could have received a sentence of anywhere
between six month and seven years.
Mr Rao was present in
the courtroom which
was packed with media
and security personnel
and left immediately
after the judgement.
"I sentence the
accused PV Narasimha
Rao and Buta Singh to
rigorous imprisonment
up to three years and
a fine of 100,000
rupees ($2,150)," the
judge said in his order.
Corruption
The former premier's lawyers had asked for
leniency from the judge citing Mr Rao's poor
health and his long history of public service
including his stint as prime minister.
"We are going to appeal
against the conviction
and sentence in the
High Court," defence
counsel, RK Anand,
said.
Mr Rao, who held office
from 1991-96, is the
first Indian prime
minister to be convicted
in a criminal case.
As head of the
Congress Party, he led
a minority government
and is credited for
taking significant steps
towards reforming the
Indian economy.
But in 1996, he quit as
party president after
the Congress suffered a
humiliating defeat in
general elections.
Concern over corruption
is mounting in India and
there have been a rash
of judgements recently against politicians.
A former chief minister of the southern state of
Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha, was last week
sentenced to three years in jail for corruption.
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| ashu |
Posted
on 12-Oct-00 11:40 AM
In theory, this could be a threat to
provably corrupt Nepali politicians.
In practice, however, our legal system,
especially the mechanisms to catch
corrupt people, is weak.
An evidence: The Commission for
Investigating Abuse of Authority (CIAA)
has been losing cases against alleged
corrupt officials for the longest time.
These alleged corrupt officals always seem to get off on technical grounds.
oohi
ashu
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 12-Oct-00 12:14 PM
Though I respect Rao as a studious polyglot
who reformed Indian economy and helped the
country to come out of its socialist
straitjacket, I still think he got a condign
verdict.
A convicted. Convicted of horse trading.
A person in my mind now is Sher Bdr Deuba.A sly,
opportunist politician who was the most
obvious example of horse trading in Nepalese
parliament.
But he too has some benign faces to show. He
is ,after all, an opposition in Congress,
countering or trying to counter Koirala
family influence. He has also some unwavering
views about water resources development (well,
his view may not be sufficiently clear for
experts, but is almost uncommon among MPs).
But he is just a poseur.& he should be convicted.
Who will prosecute him and whether he will be
sent to penitentiary is however a moot point.
I don't think he will.After all, the
government can pardon anybody in Nepal.
|
| ashu |
Posted
on 12-Oct-00 02:54 PM
I am no fan of Sher Bdr. Deuba. Still,
I think he needs a defense.
Sher Bdr. Deuba could be called many things by many people. But most fair-minded people in Nepal would NOT consider him "corrupt".
On the whole, it's a credit to Deuba that he has maintained a relatively clean, "non-corrupt" image. Still, like all public figures, Deuba must have his enemies who want to see nothing but his downfall.
I, for one, hope Deuba keeps his clean image clean, and learns how to deal strategically with the Koiralas.
oohi
ashu
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| Biswo |
Posted
on 12-Oct-00 04:27 PM
Deuba is not a good strategists. He,in fact,
showed his political immaturity in the after-
math of Khum Bdr prakaran by displaying
unfitting excitement and gleeness.
The problem is not only Girija. The problem
is a risk of the country's being relapsed
into family rule/creating yet another dynasty
for premiership.Koiralas are clearly eyeing
for that future.
If you are counting on Deuba for this
purpose, your trust is probably misplaced.
He should not be given that position exactly
because he is another felon and his track
records are blemished.I have choice of 90%
bad and 100% bad, I will not immediately
decide in favor of the lesser evil.
Meanwhile, to set trend, if we really want,
we need to be disinterested and prosecute
Deuba.That is how the trend is set.
Rao also did a lot of good things.I really
don't see him as a great felon,but his crime
was also not a venial one.He tried to
purchase the electoral mandate by inducements
and other devious means. Crime is crime and
people should pay for this.
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