MC worker gets 4-yr jail for graft

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 30

A special CBI court today sentenced a beldar of the Municipal Corporation (MC) to four-year imprisonment in a graft case. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on the convict, Sukhdev Sharma.

Sukhdev used to work as beldar in the office of the Sub-Divisional Engineer, MCPH, Sector 37, Chandigarh. On September 10, 2013, Dinesh Kumar lodged a complaint with the Superintendent of Police, CBI, Chandigarh, alleging that he had applied for a water connection in the office of the MC waterworks at Sector 37 on July 22, 2013. A day later, a junior engineer visited his house and submitted report for installation of water connection in his house.

Kumar stated that he visited the office several times and met Sukhdev Sharma for depositing the security fee, but he never paid heed to his request. On September 10, 2013, Sharma demanded Rs 7,000, including security of Rs 2,050, for the work and threatened to raise objection if he did not grease his palms.

As Kumar did not want to pay bribe, he lodged a complaint with the CBI.

As part of investigation, a video recorder was placed inside Kumar’s pocket before he was to meet Sharma at his office. Kumar told Sharma that it was very hard for him to manage such an amount and he could arrange only Rs 2,050. At this, Sharma told him that he would not get the water connection unless he paid the bribe. Sharma reduced the bribe money by Rs 1,000 and asked Kumar to visit him the next day, September 11, 2013. The entire conversation was recorded on tape. The CBI then decided to lay a trap to catch the suspect red-handed. Around 1 pm, Kumar reached Sharma’s office. The suspect took him to the rear of the building where Kumar gave him the bribe money and gave a signal to the CBI team. 

The team then visited Sharma’s office and arrested him after recovering the bribe money which he had kept in an almirah.

The defence counsel argued that Sharma was falsely implicated in the case as Rs 6,000 was taken for the water connection and not as bribe.

KP Singh, Public Prosecutor, CBI, argued that the charge for the water connection was Rs 2,050 but the accused took Rs 6,000, which included bribe. After hearing the arguments, Dr Sushil Kumar Garg, Additional District and Session Judge, Special Court, CBI, held Sukhdev Sharma guilty of taking bribe and sentenced him to four years in jail.