Hisar court awards 5-yr RI to agriculture officer

Additional Sessions Judge Khatri Saurabh has awarded five-year rigorous imprisonment to Agricultural Development Officer (ADO) of the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department, Balvinder, in case of corruption under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. A fine of Rs 50,000 was also imposed on him.

Rohtash Kumar and Surender Singh of Badya Rangran village in the district, had, in a complaint to the police, said wheat crops were damaged due to waterlogging in 2019-20, and Balvinder, responsible for preparing damage reports, demanded a 25% bribe from the compensation amount to submit favourable reports. Those who refused, including the complainants, were reported as having suffered “no loss”, while other farmers received compensation.

Investigation began after an application, along with audio and video recordings, was submitted to the police. The accused was arrested and his mobile phone was recovered and voice samples, along with recordings, were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) at Madhuban. The FSL report confirmed the authenticity of the recordings, showing no signs of tampering, and matched the voices of the accused and the complainants.

During trial, both complainants turned hostile, denying they had recorded conversations or submitted applications against Balvinder. However, the court cited the electronic and document evidence and stated that it was clearly indicated that Balvinder had demanded 25% of the compensation as a bribe.

"The menace of corruption needs to be dealt with a strict hand and sentence must be imposed on such corrupt public servants,” the order stated.