PV to move HC only after sentence order

PV to move HC only after sentence order
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Oct 9: Former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, convicted in the JMM MPs bribery case, is ready with a petition to appeal against the trial court order but will file it in the Delhi High Court only after pronouncement of the sentence on Oct 11, his counsel R K Anand said today.

"The petition for appeal is ready, but it will be filed after pronouncement of the quantum of sentence by the trial court," Anand told reporters at the Delhi Court complex.

Asked whether the petition for appeal would be filed soon after pronouncment of the sentence, he said "it depends upon what the quantum of sentence will be."

"If the sentence will be less than three years, then we can file bail application before the trial court itself, which will be our first priority," he said.

As per the law, the trial court has the jurisdiction to hear bail application in that eventuality, "otherwise we will move the High Court. But it all depends on the situation that will emerge from the sentence order," he said.

Special Judge Ajit Bharihoke, who had convicted Rao and his former cabinet colleague Buta Singh on finding them guilty of bribing four former JMM MPs -- Shibu Soren, Simon Marandi, Suraj Mandal and Shailendra Mahato -- on September 29, had deferred argument on quantum of the sentece for October 11.

The trial court, however, had acquitted nine other accused including former Union Ministers Capt Satish Sharma and Ajit Singh, former Haryana and Karnataka Chief Ministers Bhajan Lal and Veerappa Moily respectively giving them benefit of doubt as CBI failed to bring enough evidence against them.