PCDA official gets 5-year RI for graft

Chandigarh, April 21

Corruption by public servants has now reached a monstrous dimension in India. Its tentacles have even started grappling the institutions created for the protection of the republic. Unless those tentacles are intercepted and impeded from gripping the normal and orderly functioning of public offices, through strong legislative, executive as well as judicial exercises, corrupt public servants could even paralyse the functioning of such institutions, thereby hinder the democratic polity.

While observing this, Jagjit Singh, Special Judge, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court, Chandigarh, sentenced Vitesh Kumar, senior auditor of the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA), Western Command, to undergo five years of rigorous imprisonment after convicting him in a corruption case registered in 2015. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the convict.

The court has acquitted another accused, Kashmiri Lal, assistant accounts officer (AAO), in the case after the prosecution failed to prove charges against him.

The counsel for the accused prayed for leniency during the argument on quantum of sentence. The counsel said the family of the accused required his financial as well as emotional support. He had already suffered a lot during the eight-year-long trial period.

Public prosecutor Narender Singh stressed the need for exemplary punishment to the convict. He said the convict, in spite of being aware of the consequences of his actions, did not hesitate in demanding and accepting bribe from the complainant. The punishment to be awarded to the convict should be stringent so that it acts as a deterrent to other public servant to not indulge in such offences.

The CBI had arrested two officers on May 26, 2015 for allegedly seeking and accepting the graft for releasing payment of a trader of Punjab. The complainant told the CBI that his brother-in-law, Ajay Sharma, runs a firm in Pathankot. The firm is supplying stationery and electrical items to the Army. The accused had sought graft from his brother-in-law for issuing an annual settlement certificate to his firm.

On his complaint, a trap was laid and Kumar was caught in Sector 9 market, Chandigarh, while taking the bribe amount and Kashmiri Lal was arrested on the basis of an alleged recording of a conversation between the complainant and him.

After hearing the arguments, the court convicted Vitesh Kumar for offences punishable under Sections 7 and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and sentenced him to undergo 5 years of RI in each offences. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the convict. The court said both sentences would run together.