Date:30/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/30/stories/2008123054040500.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Three-year RI for former MP

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI: A special court for CBI cases here has sentenced a former Member of Parliament from Vandavasi to three-year rigorous imprisonment for using fraudulent means to obtain recognition for colleges started by his educational trust.

M. Durai, a former MP who earlier belonged to the Pattali Makkal Katchi, had conspired with a few others to cheat the Vandavasi branch of Indian Bank and the All India Council for Technical education (AICTE) by submitting fabricated documents, and fraudulently obtained recognition for the colleges run by the Vandavasi Sambuvarayar Educational Trust.

Sentence suspended

Special Judge for CBI cases S. Rangaraju sentenced Durai to three-year rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs.10,000 on each count.

Similar sentences were handed down to R. Lakshminarasimhan, the then branch manager of the bank, S. Mannappan, trust treasurer, and T.T. Subramanian, secretary.

The judge suspended the sentences for a month to enable the accused to go on appeal.

The prosecution case was that the then branch manager of Indian Bank, Vandavasi, had misused deposit reinvestment plan (RIP) receipts in his custody and created remittance for Rs.25 lakh without receiving any cash or cheque or transfer voucher from the trust. He had a RIP receipt to create a fictitious document to show that the trust had a fixed deposit of Rs.25 lakh with maturity value of Rs.81.5 lakh at the end of a 10-year fixed deposit period. Such a deposit was mandatory for obtaining AICTE recognition. The fabricated receipt was handed over to the AICTE in April 1998, along with a covering letter from the former MP.

The judge said the bank records and the cashier’s scroll showed that no RIP receipt was issued to the trust. There was no entry in the scroll to show that Rs.25 lakh was received by the trust, and there was no corresponding entry in the trust’s daybook.

The bank manager, after using one RIP receipt, had destroyed 99 blank receipts to screen evidence. The judge said there was no requirement to prove the passing of money through direct evidence; it might also be proved through circumstantial evidence.

Therefore, it could be presumed that the manager had obtained pecuniary advantage. There was no infirmity in the evidence of the inspector who investigated the case, the judge said.