Madhu Koda's Legal Battle: A Bid to Contest Jharkhand Assembly Polls Amid Coal Scam Conviction

Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda has appealed to the Supreme Court to stay his conviction in a coal scam case, enabling him to contest upcoming state Assembly elections. The court will hear the plea amid opposition from the CBI and past rejections by lower courts, highlighting legal challenges for convicted politicians.

The Supreme Court is set to deliberate on former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda's plea to put a hold on his conviction in a coal scam case, an action that could allow him to participate in the forthcoming state Assembly elections. A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Kumar, and R Mahadevan has deferred the matter to Friday following delayed submission of case documents.

During the proceedings, senior advocate R S Cheema, representing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was instructed to review a prior judgment clarifying differences in suspension criteria between sentencing and bail cases. This follows the Delhi High Court's October 18 dismissal of Koda's request, a decision underwritten by arguments from the CBI questioning its validity.

Koda was initially sentenced in December 2017 alongside former coal and government officials for corrupt practices involving the allocation of the Rajhara North Coal Block, receiving fines and prison sentences. This conviction has disqualified him from election candidacy under current law, prompting his appeal to the Supreme Court as polling approaches in mid-November for Jharkhand's Assembly.

(With inputs from agencies.)