Bribery case: Women commission vice-chief sent to jail, driver in remand

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Sunday produced Sonia Aggarwal, vice-chairperson, Haryana State Women Commission, and her personal assistant-cum-driver Kulbir in a Sonepat court. Both were arrested yesterday for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lakh from a person in lieu of settling his marital dispute complaint pending with the commission.

Falsely implicated

I have been implicated in a false case and I will prove my innocence soon. — Sonia Aggarwal, vice-chairperson, haryana state women commission

The court sent Aggarwal to judicial custody while Kulbir was sent to one-day police remand for further investigation.

The ACB had received a complaint from Anil, a JBT teacher from Julana in Jind district. Anil claimed he had a marital dispute with his wife, a Haryana Police officer posted in Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar. After his wife filed a complaint with the Women Commission, Anil was summoned for an inquiry.

According to the complaint, Kulbir demanded Rs 1 lakh on behalf of Aggarwal to settle the case. Anil finalised the deal and subsequently reported the matter to the ACB. Acting on his complaint, the ACB registered a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The ACB laid a trap and arrested Kulbir red-handed while accepting the bribe near Jindal Park, Hisar, on Saturday. A separate ACB team, led by woman Inspector Praveen Kumari, arrested Sonia Aggarwal from her residence later yesterday.

While being taken to court, Aggarwal said, "I have been implicated in a false case and I will prove my innocence soon."

Renu Bhatia, chairperson of the Haryana State Women Commission, expressed disappointment over the incident. "The commission has been working transparently for the past three years, resolving over 12,500 cases. However, individuals have their own ways of working," she said.

Reiterating the government’s commitment to zero tolerance for corruption, Bhatia assured, "The ACB has acted based on evidence and the commission is ready to cooperate fully with the investigation. It is up to the government to decide Aggarwal's fate."