Coal scam: Delhi High Court stays conviction of Dilip Ray to enable him to contest elections

The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed the conviction of former Union Minister Dilip Ray so that he can contest upcoming Odisha legislative assembly elections [Dilip Ray v Central Bureau of Investigation]..Ray was sentenced to three-year jail term in a coal scam case related to irregularities in the allocation of a Jharkhand block in 1999. He was Minister of State (coal) in the erstwhile Atal Bihari Vajpayee government..In a detailed order, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma held that if Ray’s conviction is not stayed, it would lead to an irreversible consequence, if he is acquitted at a later stage."This court is inclined to allow the present application. In view thereof, it is directed that the conviction of the present applicant, recorded in judgment dated 06.10.2020, shall stand stayed during the pendency of present appeal,” the Court said..It clarified that the order does not amount to Ray's acquittal.“Nothing expressed hereinabove shall tantamount to an expression of opinion on the merits of the case. It is clarified that this order does not amount to acquittal but is merely suspension of conviction in peculiar circumstances of the case including the long political career of the accused and his age since every case is to be decided on the basis of its peculiar circumstances and background and no two cases are similar.”Ray’s plea was opposed by the CBI..Senior Advocates Mukul Rohtagi and Pramod Kumar Dubey along with advocates Mahesh Agarwal, Ankur Saigal, Ankit Banati, Shravan Niranjan, Himanshu Bajaj, Gaurav Khanna, Keshav Sehgal, Anurag Andly and Satyam Sharma appeared for Dilip Ray.Senior Advocate RS Cheema as well as advocates Tarannum Cheema, Akshay N, Akash Singh, Sadeev Kan and Pawan Kaushik represented the CBI..[Read Judgement]