Telgi scam: Five get 3-year jail, fined Rs 50,000 each

AHMEDABAD: A CBI court hearing the Telgi stamp scam convicted five accused, sentencing them to three years in jail and slapping a fine of Rs 50,000 each Monday.

Falguni Patel and Kishor Patel from Ahmedabad, Prashant Ningappa Patil from Karnataka, Amzad Ali from Maharashtra, and Zakir Hussain from Rajkot were held guilty for dealing in counterfeit govt stamps, criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery. "Considering the provisions of law, circumstances of the case, age of the accused and their family responsibilities, there are reasons to award less punishment than prescribed in the law. The accused faced trial for 20 years," additional CJM N N Pathar said.

Of the 16 named, prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi and eight others confessed to their crime and were convicted in 2009. Two accused died during the trial that began in 2004. Telgi died in 2017 while serving his jail-term.

The scam was unearthed in Gujarat when authorities raided stamp vendors in Surat and Ahmedabad in 2001. Bogus stamps were recovered from two offices functioning in the names of Sadguru Services and Sahay Services. The probe revealed the involvement of many others from Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat.