Mumbai: A 51-year-old accused in the fake stamp paper scam involving now deceased Abdul Karim Telgi was on Tuesday sentenced by a sessions court to five years of rigorous imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the offences.
Shabbir Shaikh was the second accused in the case, where Mr Telgi was the prime accused. The case against Mr Telgi was abated due to his death. Mr Shaikh was in Yerwada prison in Pune in another case since 2002. The FIR in the present case was registered in 2010 and the charge sheet was filed in 2014. That year, he was taken into custody in the present case.
On Tuesday, Mr Shaikh, a Govandi resident, voluntarily pleaded guilty to the charges after their particulars were read over and explained to him in Hindi.
The prosecution sought that he be given the maximum sentence as he had been convicted earlier in similar offences. Additional Sessions Judge SU Hake then heard Shaikh on the point of the quantum of the sentence. He told the court that he has been in jail since October 2002 and for the last 20 years, is deprived of the company of his wife and son. He requested leniency and to be let off on a minimum fine.
The court considered that it is alleged in the charge sheet that Mr Telgi and Mr Shaikh hatched a conspiracy and falsely prepared non-judicial stamp papers and used them as genuine.
While deciding the sentence, the court said in its judgment that it has regarded the nature of the offence, allegations against Mr Shaikh and the previous convictions and feels that the sentence would meet the ends of justice. The court also imposed a total fine of over Rs20,000 on him.
