Mauritius' ex-minister Pravind Jugnauth wins appeal against corruption charges

Mauritius' ex-Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) minister Pravind Jugnauth who is also a son to current Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth, sentenced to prison for one year over charges of conflict interest in June 2015, on Wednesday won an appeal against his sentence at the country's Supreme Court.

He was being pursued for approving disbursement of 5 million euros in 2010 for the purchase of a clinic that belonged to his brother in law, when he was the finance minister during the regime of ex-prime minister Navin Ramgoolam.

Arrested in 2011 and charged in accordance with the anti-corruption law, the former minister has maintained his innocence and argued that he was only executing a cabinet decision.

However, the lower court did not agree with his position, instead holding that there was a conflict of interest when he approved the purchase of MedPoint clinic, in which his sister had personal interests and was a shareholder.

On June 30, 2015, Jugnauth was sentenced to one year in prison. The sentence was however commuted to 12 months of community service.

He decided to appeal the sentence and resign from his position of ICT minister.

Well placed sources told Xinhua the former minister will most likely return to government as finance minister, a position that is currently held by the prime minister. Endit