Ex-Jharkhand CM Madhu Koda
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda to stay his conviction in a coal block scam case to enable him to contest the upcoming Assembly polls.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar said the stay on the conviction can't be allowed in a routine manner as there are several factors to be considered for it.
In the present case, the court pointed out there was no irreversible consequences if the conviction was not stayed.
The court also rejected his contention to rely upon the previous Supreme Court's order in Afjal Ansari in which the conviction was stayed as he was a sitting Member of Parliament.
The bench declined to interfere with the Delhi High Court's order which had dismissed Koda's plea.
Koda was in 2017 convicted of corruption and conspiracy in the allocation of a Jharkhand-based coal block and sentenced to three years of imprisonment.
In its order on October 18, the Delhi High Court pointed out that Koda was not an elected representative, who incurred disqualification during the tenure of holding public office.
Koda had previously also filed an application for suspension of conviction which was dismissed in 2020.
The High Court had also relied on Navjot Singh Sidhu case, in the Supreme Court had in 2007 stated that the power to stay conviction can be exercised in exceptional circumstances.
It has also said his plea must not be construed without a backdrop at two distinct levels, right to represent in a constitutional democracy, and a greater democratic ideal of decriminalisation of politics.