By IANS,
Shimla : Former union minister Sukh Ram, who was Friday found guilty in a 13-year-old disproportionate assets case by a Delhi court, said he had been falsely implicated in the case and would appeal to a higher court.
“I am falsely implicated in the court and I will appeal in the higher court,” he told IANS over telephone but refused to reveal from where he was speaking.
Sukh Ram had to resign as the central telecommunications minister in the wake of a financial scandal involving purchase of telecom equipment from a Hyderabad-based private firm.
Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge V.K. Maheshwari found Sukh Ram guilty of having amassed Rs.42.5 million of disproportionate assets, that included Rs.24.5 million seized from his residence in New Delhi, between 1991 to 1996.
The 82-year-old former communications minister was convicted under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sukh Ram could not be present in the court Friday as he had to attend a criminal case proceeding pending against him in a Rohini court in Delhi.
The CBI registered the graft case against Sukh Ram Aug 27, 1996. The agency had conducted a raid on his residences here and in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, in 1996 and recovered Rs.36.2 million.
Earlier this month, Sukh Ram said that he did not want to contest Lok Sabha elections until he was cleared of the corruption charges.
“I do not want to contest the Lok Sabha elections on Congress ticket as a tainted man,” Sukh Ram said when asked whether his name had been cleared by the state Congress committee for the Mandi seat.
Leader of the opposition Vidya Stokes said Sukh Ram’s conviction would not have any impact on Congress’ election prospects.
“Ram’s conviction won’t have any impact on our election prospects. The cases were old� moreover it is not the final verdict,” she said.