Couple stands in court for a day

A Delhi court told an elderly couple from UP to stand in the court the entire day after they were found guilty in a money-laundering case.

They were also fined Rs 3 lakh. The case, which has been dragging on for 20 years, involved 12 accused who had evaded tax and ammased ill-gotten wealth. Three of the accused have passed away.

A special CBI court held Bareilly resident S P Goel and his wife Beena Goel guilty of cheating and forgery, besides various offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court told them to go home only after the day’s proceeding’s ended.

Goel was found guilty of trying to convert taxable Rs 1.3 crore into tax-free money by showing it to be foreign exchange remittances in 1992.

The court acquitted former Central Bank of India official Pawan Sain Jain, saying the evidence against him was not sufficient to prove his role in the conspiracy.

Goel had pleaded for leniency with the court, saying he was over 60 years old and his wife was a cancer patient. But the judge rejected his plea and said the punishment must be commensurate to the offence.

“Those who seek unlawful monetary benefits by fraudulent means do not deserve the benefit of probation, as tax evasion prevents the country to undertake tasks for public benefit,” the court observed.