Chandigarh: CBI court dismisses discharge plea of accused in bribery case

Advertisement

Chandigarh, June 3

While finding a prima facie case against all accused in an alleged bribery case registered by the CBI in 2020, Jagjit Singh, Special Judge, CBI Court, Chandigarh, has dismissed a discharge application of accused Gangumolu Venkata Ramaiah.

The court says from entire evidence collected during the investigation, there is sufficient evidence to make out a prima facie case as per the charge sheet against all accused.

The CBI had arrested two persons of a Bathinda-based private firm for allegedly giving a bribe of Rs 1,30,000 to the Labour Eenforcement Officer, who allegedly accepted the bribe on behalf of the then Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner, Chandigarh, in 2020.

The CBI alleged that some private persons were acting as middlemen between various private industrialists/businessmen/private contractors and the public servants, by negotiating and collecting illegal gratification in lieu of extending favours to them by facilitating relief in the matters of inspections carried out in their business/industrial establishments.

The charge sheet in the case was filed in July 2020 against Mahesh Chand Sharma, then Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner; Vivek Naik, then Labour Enforcement Officer; Akhand Raj Singh of Nagarjuna Construction Company; Gurmeet Sidhu and Munish Garg, both of Advantage HR Solutions; Gangumolu Venkata Ramaiah, and two businessmen Lakhwinder Singh and Inderjeet Singh Bath.