7 years jail for doctors issuing false medical certificate to Telgi

The special court trying the multi-billion-rupee fake stamp paper racket yesterday sentenced two doctors of a hospital in Bangalore to seven years in prison and slapped a penalty of Rs 1.4 million for issuing a fake medical certificate to the kingpin of the scam Abdul Karim Telgi.

The court also sentenced Telgi guilty in the case and sentenced him to seven years in prison, besides imposing a penalty of Rs 2.5 million. This is the third case in the stamp paper racket in which Telgi has been convicted.

Special Court judge Vishwanath V Angadi found the doctors Jnanendrappa and Channakeshava of Victoria Hospital in Bangalore guilty of accepting bribe and issuing false medical certificate to Telgi that enabled him to secure bail.

All the three have been convicted for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The judge has also ruled that the convicts will undergo imprisonment of an additional two years if they fail to pay the penalty imposed on them.

Though the special court had found the trio guilty the crime on Tuesday, the quantum of punishment was pronounced yesterday. But, the advocates representing the doctors said they were planning to go in appeal against the sentence, which they found was “too harsh”.

It may be mentioned here that the advocates representing the doctors had sought permission from the court to file bail applications on behalf of their clients soon after the judge completed the dictation of the judgement on Tuesday. But, the special public prosecutor of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) B R Nanjundaiah had opposed the move stating that the bail applications can be filed only after the court pronounces the quantum of punishment.

With the special court sentencing them to seven years in jail, the advocates are planning to go in appeal against the order.