New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS): A Delhi court Thursday put off by a day former telecom minister Sukh Ram's surrender in the 1996 equipment purchase scam. The 84-year-old ex-minister could not appear in court as he is undergoing treatment at a hospital here.
The court ordered two other accused, former deputy director-general of the department of telecommunications Runu Ghosh and managing director of Hyderabad-based firm Advanced Radio Masts P. Rama Rao, to be taken into custody.
The Delhi High Court Dec 21 upheld the trial court decision to award three years' jail term to Sukh Ram. It also approved the two years' jail sentence awarded to Ghosh and Rao. All the convicts were out on bail.
The 1996 scam involved award of a contract to the Hyderabad firm for supplying telecom equipment to the government at exorbitant rates.