A court in Mizoram capital Aizawl sentenced the State’s lone BJP legislator, Buddha Dhan Chakma, and 12 others to a year of rigorous imprisonment in a 10-year-old corruption case.
The court also imposed a fine of ₹10,000 on each of them.
The other 12 include Buddha Lila Chakma, the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC), and two executive members and three former CEMs of the council.
Convicting the 13 Chakma community leaders under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, on Friday, the court of the Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act) said they had misappropriated ₹137.10 lakh allocated by the government for developmental works. The accused, it observed, had taken the money as “advance salary” without the permission of the Governor and the State government.
The graft cases against the 13 leaders were initiated by former State BJP general secretary and incumbent State party president Vanlalhmuaka, who had submitted a written complaint to the then Governor in 2013.
The Governor subsequently constituted a one-man inquiry commission. Based on this commission’s report, the Mizoram District Council and Minority Affairs Department registered an FIR with the State Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in 2018.
When Mr. Vanlalhmuaka made the complaint, the Congress party was governing the CADC and Mr. B.D. Chakma was its CEM.
Mr. Chakma was later elected to the State Assembly on a Congress ticket and became a Minister of State. He resigned in 2017 in protest against the denial of medical seats to four Chakma students by the Congress headed by Lal Thanhawla .
He later joined the BJP and became the party’s first representative in the 40-member Assembly of the Christian-majority State.
After the court verdict, the BJP legislator said he would move the Gauhati High Court against the judgement.
