MCD official sentenced to 3 years in 2005 graft case
17 Dec 2012 1:25 AM GMT
An MCD junior engineer has been sentenced to three years in jail by a court in Delhi for taking bribe to clear an alleged illegal construction in 2005.
While awarding jail term to MCD official Y S Chauhan, Special Judge Pradeep Chaddah also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him for taking Rs 20,000 as bribe from complainant Mangat Ram Khatri.
‘The menace of corruption has entered into each and every segment of society. Because lenient views have been taken in past, we have reached the present hopeless situation. The entire city of Delhi bears signs of illegal unauthorised constructions. Where two and half floors are permitted, four to five floors have come up with blessings of MCD officials,’ the court said.
According to CBI, the complainant was building a house at Rohini and Chauhan had inspected the site during construction.
It said Chauhan had served a notice to Khatri on 25 April 2005, saying he will have to cough up an amount of Rs 50,000 failing which his house would be sealed.
Khatri deposed before the court that after negotiations, Chauhan agreed to accept an amount of Rs 20,000. During trial, the CBI told the court acting on Khatri’s complaint, it had laid out a trap and had caught the accused accepting the bribe.
Chauhan, however, told the court he was falsely implicated in the case by the complainant as he had objected to the illegal construction.
The court, however, dismissed his plea saying he failed to ‘resist the greed of making easy money’ and took bribe. ‘Convict had demanded bribe for looking the other way. Instead of taking action against alleged illegal construction which was part of his duty, he tried to extract his pound of flesh.
He was being paid by the state exchequer for doing his job. He could not resist greed of making easy money and demanded bribe,’ the court said.
While awarding jail term to MCD official Y S Chauhan, Special Judge Pradeep Chaddah also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him for taking Rs 20,000 as bribe from complainant Mangat Ram Khatri.
‘The menace of corruption has entered into each and every segment of society. Because lenient views have been taken in past, we have reached the present hopeless situation. The entire city of Delhi bears signs of illegal unauthorised constructions. Where two and half floors are permitted, four to five floors have come up with blessings of MCD officials,’ the court said.
According to CBI, the complainant was building a house at Rohini and Chauhan had inspected the site during construction.
It said Chauhan had served a notice to Khatri on 25 April 2005, saying he will have to cough up an amount of Rs 50,000 failing which his house would be sealed.
Khatri deposed before the court that after negotiations, Chauhan agreed to accept an amount of Rs 20,000. During trial, the CBI told the court acting on Khatri’s complaint, it had laid out a trap and had caught the accused accepting the bribe.
Chauhan, however, told the court he was falsely implicated in the case by the complainant as he had objected to the illegal construction.
The court, however, dismissed his plea saying he failed to ‘resist the greed of making easy money’ and took bribe. ‘Convict had demanded bribe for looking the other way. Instead of taking action against alleged illegal construction which was part of his duty, he tried to extract his pound of flesh.
He was being paid by the state exchequer for doing his job. He could not resist greed of making easy money and demanded bribe,’ the court said.
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