CBI court convicts two of Transport Department in graft case

Two employees of the Punjab Transport Department have been held guilty in a bribery case. The CBI court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on March 19.

On a complaint of Kamal Kumar, a resident of Nayagaon, the CBI had on May 5, 2017, registered a case against Sarwan Kumar Bhatia and Damandeep Singh, employees of Transport Department.

The complainant had alleged that after purchasing a car, he had visited the office of the Transport Department in Sector 17, Chandigarh, to obtain an RC and all-India permit. He submitted his file to Bhatia, an assistant, who allegedly sought Rs 16,000 as fee and further penalty of Rs 50 per day as late fee for the certificate. On enquiry, Kumar came to know that the actual fee for RC and the permit was Rs 9,500. Since he did not want to pay the bribe, he approached the CBI.

CBI sleuths laid a trap and arrested the accused persons while taking Rs 18,300 from the complainant.

The counsel for the accused argued that they were falsely implicated. Public prosecutor Narender Singh claimed that the prosecution had proved the case beyond a shadow of doubt. After hearing the arguments, Alka Malik, Special Judge, CBI court, Chandigarh, held the accused guilty.