Ex-GM of BSNL gets 4-year jail for graft

Panchkula, September 9

A special CBI court here today sentenced a former senior general manager (GM) of BSNL to four years in jail for accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh in the year 2014.

The court of special CBI judge Dr Sushil Kumar Garg also imposed a fine of Rs10 lakh on the convict, Chanderhas, the then senior GM, Telecom District (BSNL), Karnal.

Chanderhas had demanded a bribe of Rs3 lakh from Yashpal, a junior telecom officer of BSNL, office of Divisional Engineer, Karnal, in lieu of reducing the penalty in a chargesheet against him. Chanderhas later reduced the bribe amount to Rs2.75 lakh and agreed to accept Rs2 lakh as the first installment.

Yashpal then approached the CBI. A trap was laid and the convict was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs2 lakh from the complainant.

The convict has been sentenced to three-year rigorous imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs3 lakh, under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and four years in jail, along with a fine of Rs7 lakh, under Section 13 (1) (d) read with 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Both sentences will run concurrently.

Chanderhas pleaded for leniency, stating that he had never been convicted before and was “facing the agony of criminal trial since 2014”. However, CBI public prosecutor KP Singh argued for the maximum punishment.

The court observed: “…one lie is enough to question all truths. But it is the duty of the court to enforce the rule of law and, therefore, to guard against erosion of the rule of law. The duty of the court is that any anti-corruption law has to be interpreted and worked out in such a fashion so as to strengthen the fight against corruption.” — TNS