NEW DELHI: The Minister of State for Communications, Sukh Ram, has accepted the offer of unconditional apology and compensation of £ 60,000 (about Rs 30 lakh) from a London based magazine for leveling grave charges of corruption against him. Ram told media persons that this was the largest ever compensation offered or won by an important political person in a defamation suit filed in the United Kingdom.
In a unsigned statement distributed al crowded Press conference organized at Sanchar Bhavan, Telecom Department’s headquarters, he said: ”An epoch making settlement has been reached in the annals of the legal history of defamation involving an important public figure,
Ram had filed a defamation suit in London against Communications International for publishing grave allegations of kickbacks against him and Congress (1) party in its August 1994 issue. Ram, however, refused to circulate the contents of the article at Press conference. He also out rightly refused to discuss anything other than his victory in defamation case.
The article headlined “Scandals dog Indian Telecom” had said that telecom kickbacks had emerged as the biggest fund generator for India’s ruling party. It quoted a joke about Ram’s statement that he would approve offers for pro viding basic telephone services on case to case (suitcase to suitcase) basis.
Pointing out that SO members of Parliament had sometime leveled 30 charges against Ram, the article alleged that he had taken bribes amounting to Rs 4 billion (400 crore) in 18 joint ventures and equipment supply contracts. It had claimed that touts were peddling in Sanchar Bhavan and striking a commission of 5-8 per cent.
Asked what he would do with the Rs 30 lakh compensation, Ram quipped, “Let me first get the money, then I will decide.”
Article extracted from this publication >> December 2, 1994
