Dikhyaa Mohanty 
In order to allow former Union Minister Dilip Ray to run in the forthcoming Odisha elections, the Delhi High Court on Monday overturned the trial court’s conviction of him in a coal fraud case.
Prior to this, the High Court had postponed ruling on Ray’s request, which asked for a stay of a trial court’s conviction in a coal scam case. In 1999, Ray was given a three-year prison sentence for irregularities in the distribution of a Jharkhand block. Ray’s motion for a stay of the judgment was granted by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma. Ray stated that if the conviction is not stayed, it will have irreparable consequences in the event that he is later found not guilty.
The court declared, “If the applicant’s (Ray) prayer is denied, he will forfeit his opportunity to run for office and suffer an irreversible consequence and irreparable harm to his political career and desire to serve his constituency.” The HC ordered that Ray’s conviction in the case remain stayed while he files an appeal against the trial court’s decision to convict and sentence him.
On October 26, 2020, a trial court convicted Ray to three years in prison and made him pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh.
