The Madras High Court has permitted a corruption case convict to pay a fine amount of ₹ 6 lakh, imposed on him by a trial court, in three monthly instalments, since it was reported that his wife was facing difficulty in mobilising the amount due to COVID-19.
Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan suspended the sentence of four years of rigorous imprisonment imposed on the convict, B. Balasubramanian, and ordered his release on bail forthwith on the condition that the first instalment of ₹ 2 lakh should be paid on or before April 20. The next equated instalments should be paid on or before May 22 and June 22 respectively.
The judge agreed with the petitioner’s counsel P.K. Murali that it would be difficult to deposit the entire fine amount in one go as a pre-condition to grant bail.
A Special Court for hearing cases booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation convicted the petitioner in December last for four various offences, including cheating, under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988.
The trial court also imposed a fine of ₹ 1 lakh for each of the six charges under which he was convicted. The judgment was taken on appeal before the High Court along with a sub application to suspend the sentence and enlarge the petitioner on bail till the disposal of the appeal.
The High Court allowed the sub application on February 20 on the condition that the convict should deposit the entire fine amount of ₹ 6 lakh within two weeks. However, the money could not be mobilised within the stipulated time and the threat of COVID-19 popped up meanwhile.
