Ranchi, Jan 20 (PTI) The Jharkhand High Court on Friday rejected an appeal of former minister Enos Ekka and his spouse Menon Ekka, upholding their conviction in a disproportionate assets case.
The couple was convicted by a special CBI court for having assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.
The duo was held guilty of laundering Rs 20.31 crore and was sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and slapped with a fine of Rs 2 crore in April last year.
The appeal was heard by the high court before the bench of Justice Gautam Kumar Choudhary. The court had earlier heard the matter and reserved the judgement on December 21, 2022.
The order was pronounced in open court during the day wherein the high court affirmed the judgement of the lower court.
Ekka, who was a minister in the Madu Koda cabinet from 2006-2008, was earlier held guilty by the court “of offences of money laundering to the tune of Rs 20,31,77,852 as defined under Section 3 of the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) and punishable under Section 4 of the PMLA,” the ED had said after his conviction.
The ED had booked the former rural development minister under the PMLA following a Jharkhand vigilance bureau criminal complaint.
The CBI had earlier accused Ekka, his wife and others of possessing disproportionate wealth of Rs 17 crore, allegedly acquired during his ministerial term in the Koda dispensation.
Ekka had represented the Kolebira constituency in the Jharkhand assembly. The seat falls under the Khunti parliamentary constituency. He then represented the Jharkhand Party. PTI COR NAM ACD ACD
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