A magistrate's court in Nagpur sentenced Congress MLA and former Maharashtra minister Sunil Kedar along with five others to five years of rigorous imprisonment for misappropriation of funds at the Nagpur District Central Cooperative Bank (NDCCB). The case, dating back to 2002, involved the mismanagement of funds leading to a loss of Rs 125 crore in government securities, news agency PTI reported.


Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate J V Pekhle-Purkar delivered the judgment, also imposing a fine of Rs 10 lakh each on the convicted individuals. The accused include the general manager and directors of NDCCB, as well as a director of Home Trade Private Limited, an investment firm. Among the charges, Kedar was found guilty under Indian Penal Code section 409, which pertains to criminal breach of trust by a public servant, PTI's report mentioned.


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The court pointed out that the NDCCB's loss of Rs 125 crore in government securities in 2002 resulted from the flouting of rules during fund investment through Home Trade Private Limited, with Kedar serving as the bank's chairman at the time. The court emphasised that the funds in question represented the hard-earned money of the bank's members, mainly poor farmers, the report stated. The cooperative sector's objective is to uplift economically marginalised sections of society, and the court expressed disappointment that individuals in responsible positions breached the trust placed in them.


"People holding high posts are vested with more responsibilities to ensure not even a single rupee of a member is wasted in any manner," the order stated, as quoted by PTI. The court asserted that the breach of trust by such responsible persons requires strict punishment. Given the severity of the offences, the court concluded that no leniency could be shown to the accused, the report mentioned.


The individuals sentenced under sections 409 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, along with section 248 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, include Sunil Kedar, general manager Ashok Choudhary, Ketan Seth, Amit Verma, Subodh Bhandari, and Nandkishore Trivedi.


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