The Delhi High Court Friday issued a notice to the CBI on former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Bangaru Laxman’s plea challenging the trial court’s award of jail sentence to him, saying that he was suffering from old age related illnesses.
Justice Mukta Gupta refusing immediate suspension of the sentence for 72-year-old Laxman sought the trial court’s records. The court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file its reply by July 5, the next date of hearing.
Laxman moved the court for immediate suspension of the four-year jail term on the ground that he is suffering from many old-age related illnesses and is a diabetes patient.
A CBI special court April 28 sentenced Laxman to jail after holding him guilty of taking a bribe and also fined him Rs.1 lakh.
The case dates to 2001 when news portal tehelka.com carried out a sting operation that caught Laxman on camera receiving money from a journalist posing as an arms dealer. He later resigned as BJP chief.
Tehelka had released CDs showing Laxman accepting money for promise of assistance to a fictitious Britain-based company M/s West End International in securing a contract for the supply of thermal imagers to the Indian Army.
