The Delhi High Court on Friday declined to stay former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda’s conviction in a coal scam case to enable him to contest elections.
It would not be desirable to allow him to contest for any public office, it said, till he was finally acquitted.
Law commission report
Justice Vibhu Bakhru referred to the 244th Law Commission report that recommended that a person against whom charges have been framed would be disqualified from standing for elections.
Mr. Koda was held guilty, by a trial court in 2017, of corruption and conspiracy in the allocation of a Jharkhand-based coal block to Kolkata-based company Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL).
He had moved the High Court for a stay of the conviction to contest the 2019 Assembly elections. The court had reserved its verdict on his application on March 19.
