Disqualification of kedar: Legislature Secretary says election commission to decide on bypolls

The Maharashtra legislature secretariat, in a notification issued on Saturday, announced the immediate disqualification of Congress MLA Sunil Kedar, effective from the date of his conviction on December 22. Jitendra Bhole, the legislature secretary, stated that as per the Supreme Court’s directives, disqualification is automatic when an elected representative is sentenced to over two years in jail.

“We have received the CJM’s operative order and a letter from the Nagpur police regarding the conviction. We forwarded them to Speaker Rahul Narwekar, and following his decision, we have issued this notification,” he informed from Mumbai. “Staying the conviction on the first day of hearing is quite difficult. We will send this notification to the Election Commission of India (ECI) along with our letter. It is up to the poll body whether to conduct bypolls in Saoner or not,” he added.

In connection to the Rs 150-crore NDCCB scam (G-secs scam), a special court sentenced six accused, including former minister Sunil Kedar, to five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a Rs 12.50 lakh fine on each of them. Kedar was found guilty of violating rules as the chairman of NDCCB by investing bank money in G-secs through the investment firm Home Trade Securities, owned by accused Sanjay Agrawal, which neither purchased securities nor repaid the money.

Following the scam revelation, Kedar was suspended from the NCP and later joined the Congress. NDCCB’s board of directors was dismissed, and an administrator was appointed to run the bank at that time. In 2002, offenses were filed against Kedar and 11 others. The accused faced charges under sections 406, 409, 468, 471, 120-B, and 34 of the IPC.