Former telecomm minister Sukh Ram facing charges in 1993 telecom scam got some relief with Supreme Court on Monday extending his interim bail till august 7.

Earlier upholding the trial court verdict handing him three-year jail term Supreme Court had asked him to surrender with other two accused in December. While he dodged the arrest for two days, the other two accused surrendered.

Sukh Ram surrender on Janaury 7 and was sent to jail. Later on January 9 all the three accused were granted interim bail till January 16.  

The CBI has also been asked by the Supreme Court if it is challenging Sukh Ram's acquittal under Section 120 B of the IPC for charges of conspiracy.

The three had pleaded with the court for the relief but the later refused saying that their appeal against the Delhi High Court would be listed for hearing only after they surrender before the trial court.

The three had challenged the Delhi High Court order which had dismissed the appeal of Sukhram against his conviction in 1996 telecom scam and upheld a three-year jail sentences handed out to him by a trial court. Sukh Ram headed the telecom ministry in Narasimha Rao’s government.   

The bench had directed them to surrender forthwith before the trial court. A division bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and GP Mittal had also upheld the conviction of ex-deputy director-general of the department of telecom (DoT) Runu Ghosh and Hyderabad-based Advanced Radio Masts (ARM) managing director P Rama Rao in the scam. The trial court had awarded two years of jail sentence to Runu Ghosh and three years to Hyderabad-based Advanced Radio Masts (ARM) managing director P Rama Rao.

Sukh Ram along with Renu Ghosh and Prama Rao was convicted by a trial court in a case related to the award of a contract to a Hyderabad firm for supplying telecom equipment to government at exorbitant rates.