Jharkhand High Court dismisses ex-minister’s plea against CBI

Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court today dismissed the petition of former state minister Harinarayan Rai, his wife Sushila Devi and his brother Sanjay Kumar Rai.

The trio, who are convicts in a case of having disproportionate assets, had filed a petition to challenge the supplementary charge sheet filed by the CBI against them. The order came from the bench of Justice Ananda Sen, where judgment in his petition was reserved.

Those arguing on behalf of Rai were senior advocate and JMM MP Sanjeev Kumar besides high court advocate A K Rashidi. In December 2016, the special CBI court convicted all three in the case of disproportionate assets and imposed a sentence of five years each and a fine of 50- 50 thousand.

The case arose when in 2010 the CBI took over the case from Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) and filed a charge sheet in 2012 against the former minister for earning Rs 1 crore 46 lakh more than his income. The CBI unearthed a luxurious bungalow, a dairy farm, a pond in the ancestral village in Ranchi and Deoghar districts.

The investigating agency also unearthed Rs 42 lakh in the name of his wife and brother. Rai had acquired the said property while being an MLA and minister from 2005 to 2009.