Gangster Romesh Sharma was today awarded 10 years jail term,besides imposing on him a fine of Rs 17.15 lakh,in a helicopter grabbing case by a Delhi court which however allowed him to walk free after considering the time spent in jail by him during this trial. Additional Sessions Judge Sanjeev Jain freed 68-year-old Sharma,who has been behind bars for 13 years for various offences,by giving him the "benefit of section 428 CrPC". "The convict Romesh Sharma has already spent 13 years in judicial custody during his trial and the maximum punishment imposed on him for the offences is 10 years,so giving benefit of section 428 CrPC he is released on period of jail sentence already undergone by him," the court said. The court,which has convicted and awarded seven years imprisonment to 66-year-old Harish Mishra,for cheating and criminal conspiracy,has also given him the benefit of section 428 CrPC as he has spent over 10 years in jail. The court sent Avtar Singh Ahluwalia,M D Bhojwani,Naveen Budhiraja,Manoj,Avdesh and Indermani to jail for three years besides imposing on them fine of Rs 10,000 each,for offences of dacoity and hatching criminal conspiracy for it. The other convict Laxman Singh,convicted for kidnapping and criminal intimidation,has been awarded three years rigorous imprisonment and slapped with a fine of Rs 15,000. As Laxman Singh has already spent over two years in jail,the court allowed him to file an appeal before Delhi High Court saying his sentence is suspended till September 15. Meanwhile,a fine of Rs 17.15 lakh was imposed on Sharma and Rs one lakh was imposed upon Mishra,out of which,Rs 15 lakh was directed to be given to the complainant Suresh Rao as compensation. The court has also directed the concerned department to hand over the helicopter to Rao. The court,while sentencing the other seven convicts,said "the whole incident is extremely revolting. It shocks the collective conscience of the community. The aggravated circumstances had outscored the mitigating factors of age and their antecedents." The court had on July 21 held Sharma and the eight others guilty in the case. The case against Sharma had been registered in 1998 on complaint of one H Suresh Rao,the owner of a Bell-47 helicopter. In its chargesheet,filed later,CBI had said Sharma came in contact with Rao in 1996 and expressed his desire to hire his chopper for campaigning in an election. He had told Rao that he could not show the hiring of the helicopter due to the restrictions imposed by the Election Commission and,therefore,the documents showing sale of the helicopter may be prepared,which would be destroyed after the elections. Believing Sharma's request to be bonafide,Rao had executed an MOU which was predated to February 24,1996. On Sharma's request,the helicopter was dispatched to Phoolpur where it was used for his electioneering work. He had later refused to return it to Rao. When the helicopter was to be sent back to Mumbai,it was forcibly grabbed by Sharma's henchmen who took it to Delhi. The chopper was later seized by the Delhi police which had initially registered the case. The case was later transferred to CBI.
