Maharashtra Congress MLA Sunil Kedar sentenced to five years in jail in Rs 125 cr scam case

Mumbai: In a significant development in Maharashtra politics, Sunil Kedar, senior Congress MLA from the Vidarbha region, has been sentenced to a five-year jail term following his conviction in a 21-year-old alleged Rs 125 crore scam involving the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank.

A five-time MLA from Saoner in Nashik district, Kedar (62) hails from a prominent political family and previously held a ministerial position in the former Congress-NCP Democratic Front government.

The development comes as a major jolt to the Maharashtra Congress, especially in the wake of the December 28 foundation day celebrations the party is organising in Nagpur, to be attended by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and the party's top brass, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others.

No immediate reaction was available either from Kedar or from the party.

Kedar will be challenging the Magistrate court's order.

Among other provisions, Kedar was held guilty under Indian Penal Code Section 409 (criminal breach of trust by a public servant).

According to the prosecution, Sunil Kedar, who served as the Chairman of the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB), was involved in a case where the bank incurred a loss of Rs 125 crore in government securities in 2002. The prosecution alleges that rules were violated while investing funds through Home Trade Securities, an investment firm. The purported scam dates back to 2002.

Meanwhile, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, who actively pursued the case, remarked, “I had raised the Home Trade issue, pursued the matter in Parliament, RBI, and the government since 2002. Today, the Nagpur court declared then Congress minister Sunil Kedar guilty.”

Other individuals found guilty in the case include Ketan Sheth, Nandkishore Trivedi, Ashok Chaudhary, Subodh Bhandari — all from Mumbai, and Amit Verma of Ahmedabad.