Satish Krishna Cell | Photo Credit: File photo
The Karnataka High Court has convicted Karwar MLA Satish Krishna Sell on six counts of illegal export of seized iron ore, sentencing him to seven years in jail on each count.
The court also directed the Karwar assembly constituency not to notify the by-election under Section 151 of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, pending the outcome of his appeal against the trial court’s conviction and sentence.
Judge M. Nagaprasanna passed the interim order on December 19 as Mr. Sale was disqualified as an MLA from October 24, the day he was convicted under Section 8 of the RP Act.
The court also said Mr. Sale should not be disqualified from contesting future elections pending this appeal.
Restrictions
With this interim order, Mr. Sale will retain his post as MLA of Karwar but with limited powers as the Supreme Court order passed by the High Court in Afsal Ansari v. State has imposed several restrictions on him. Uttar Pradesh in a similar situation where Afsal Ansar faced disqualification as a Member of Parliament after being convicted and sentenced for more than two years in terms of the RP Act.
The High Court said that Mr. Sale shall not have the right to participate in the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly and vote in the House or receive any facility or monetary benefit.
Noting that the suspension of the conviction would benefit him to retain his position as an MLA, the High Court said his appeal should be heard expeditiously as directed by the Supreme Court in the Afsal Ansari case and decided to hear the appeal. February 10, 2025.
A fine must be paid
According to the judgment of the trial court, apart from the jail term, Mr. Sale will have to pay a fine of about Rs.9.26 crore personally as well as a fine of about Rs.9.26 crore on behalf of his company – Mr. Mallikarjuna Shipping Pvt. Ltd., of which he is the managing director, has been found guilty of the crime of defrauding the state treasury and causing loss to the government treasury by being involved in the illegal export of seized iron.
Although the High Court suspended his sentence on November 13, Mr. Sale filed a petition for suspension of the sentence to enable him to retain office as a legislator pending his appeal.
published – December 21, 2024 at 10:19 am IST