Court awards 4-yr jail to ex-Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitley, 2 others in defence corruption case

Special CBI judge Virender Bhat also awarded 4-year jail term to Jaitley's former party colleague Gopal Pacherwal and Major General (rtd) S P Murgai in the case, Murgai's advocate Vikram Panwar said. The court, in a proceeding held in camera, also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on all three convicts and directed them to surrender before it till 5 PM today. The case stemmed from a sting, 'Operation Westend' aired by news portal Tehelka in January 2001.

A Delhi court Thursday awarded 4-year jail term to ex-Samata Party President Jaya Jaitley and two others for corruption in a 2000-01 case related to a purported defence deal, a lawyer said. Special CBI judge Virender Bhat also awarded 4-year jail term to Jaitley's former party colleague Gopal Pacherwal and Major General (rtd) S P Murgai in the case, Murgai's advocate Vikram Panwar said.

The court, in a proceeding held in camera, also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on all three convicts and directed them to surrender before it till 5 PM today. The three were held guilty of corruption and criminal conspiracy in the purported purchase of hand-held thermal imagers. The case stemmed from a sting, 'Operation Westend' aired by news portal Tehelka in January 2001.