<p>The Mumbai Sessions Court on Wednesday sentenced fake stamp-paper forger Abdul Karim Telgi to life imprisonment and dismissed an application seeking to make Union Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh a co-accused in the case.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The court, while delivering the sentence, also convicted three sacked policemen –K K Parmar, A B Sonwalkar and Ganpat Jadhav- for abetting and allowing Telgi to flee.<br />Telgi, currently lodged in Bangalore jail, had told the court through video-conferencing: “I am suffering from diabetes, heart disease, kidney problem. Both my legs are paralysed. <br /><br />“I need an urgent kidney operation. My health is deteriorating day by day. My wife is ill and on the death bed. <br /><br />“My only daughter is of marriageable age and (there is) no other male member in my family. <br />“I pray for minimum sentence. I am penniless (and therefore) cannot pay the fine. I have been in judicial custody since November 7, 2011. I pray for leniency,” he told the court. <br /><br />The fake stamp paper scam created waves in 2005, when Telgi and his two accomplices-Ramratan Soni and Sanjay Gaikwad- dropped names of political bigwigs as partners who aided them in the crime. <br /><br />In his submission to the court, Soni alleged that the licence for stamp-paper distribution to Telgi was issued by Vilasrao Deshmukh’s office, contending that the former Maharashtra chief minister should also be made a co-accused. <br /><br />However, the sessions court did not find any substantial evidence in his allegations.</p>
<p>The Mumbai Sessions Court on Wednesday sentenced fake stamp-paper forger Abdul Karim Telgi to life imprisonment and dismissed an application seeking to make Union Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh a co-accused in the case.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The court, while delivering the sentence, also convicted three sacked policemen –K K Parmar, A B Sonwalkar and Ganpat Jadhav- for abetting and allowing Telgi to flee.<br />Telgi, currently lodged in Bangalore jail, had told the court through video-conferencing: “I am suffering from diabetes, heart disease, kidney problem. Both my legs are paralysed. <br /><br />“I need an urgent kidney operation. My health is deteriorating day by day. My wife is ill and on the death bed. <br /><br />“My only daughter is of marriageable age and (there is) no other male member in my family. <br />“I pray for minimum sentence. I am penniless (and therefore) cannot pay the fine. I have been in judicial custody since November 7, 2011. I pray for leniency,” he told the court. <br /><br />The fake stamp paper scam created waves in 2005, when Telgi and his two accomplices-Ramratan Soni and Sanjay Gaikwad- dropped names of political bigwigs as partners who aided them in the crime. <br /><br />In his submission to the court, Soni alleged that the licence for stamp-paper distribution to Telgi was issued by Vilasrao Deshmukh’s office, contending that the former Maharashtra chief minister should also be made a co-accused. <br /><br />However, the sessions court did not find any substantial evidence in his allegations.</p>
