A Mumbai special court on Tuesday convicted a disabled man and sentenced him to three years of imprisonment. He was accused of posing as a CBI officer and duping several people including filmmaker Rakesh Roshan.
Justice V.P Desai of the special court heard the cases linked to the CBI and held the accused, Ashwini Kumar Sharma, guilty under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Special public prosecutor, Sandeep Singh mentioned that due to Sharma’s medical disability, he was unable to attend the court in person but appeared via video conference when the judgement was pronounced. The Bombay High Court permitted him to appear before the special judge via video conference. Sharma claimed that following an accident he has suffered 80 per cent disability and hence would not be able to appear before the court physically. He would not at a later stage claim the judgment as illegal on the ground that he was not physically present.
The accused had challenged CBI court’s order in the High Court. CBI Court’s order issued a non-bailable warrant against him and directing him to appear before it on the day judgment is to be pronounced in the case.
Another accused in the case, Rajesh Rajan, has already been convicted in 2022.
Sharma and Rajan were arrested by the CBI in 2011 for allegedly cheating more than 200 people, including film personalities like Rakesh Roshan, and businessmen. According to the probe agency, the accused has cheated people since 2006 by posing as CBI officers.
However, the luck of the duo ran out when they approached Rakesh Roshan seeking money to set the matter with civility. Roshan allegedly paid Rs 50 lakh to the conmen and later approached the CBI’s anti-corruption wing when his matter was not settled as assured.
According to the CBI, the duo had also approached a politician accused in an alleged scam pertaining to the Adarsh building in Mumbai and promised him help in diluting the case against him in return for payment of a few lakh rupees.
