NDMC official sent to 3 yrs in jail for taking Rs 10,000 bribe

New Delhi, May 16: Corruption is pervasive and has "engrossed" most of the government departments, a Delhi court has observed while sentencing an NDMC official to three years in jail for accepting Rs 10,000 bribe from a shop owner here.

The court, while sentencing Arjun Singh, the then senior assistant at NDMC's Estate Department, also said that a clear message should be given to society that corruption shall not be tolerated in any form and will be sternly dealt with.

"I am fully in agreement with the counsel for CBI that corruption is pervasive and has engrossed most of the government departments. Citizens who are entitled to services provided by the government are deprived of that on account of the menace of corruption."

"Not only this, menace of corruption has created imbalance in society and helped the rich people in society to usurp the entitlements which their fellow poor citizens are entitled to.

Clear message should be given to society that corruption shall not be tolerated in any form and punishment should be given in such a manner which has a deterrent effect," Special CBI Judge Gurdeep Singh said.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 80,000 on Singh and directed him to return the "tainted money" while holding him guilty of offences under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988.

The court's verdict came on a corruption complaint lodged by Sushil Kumar Bansal, a shop owner, on May 10, 2012 alleging that Singh had demanded Rs 10,000 bribe for renewing his licence to run the shop at Gole Market here.

The NDMC had in March 2012 proposed to issue eviction notices to some shops here whose licence had expired. Bansal's shop was one of them.

The court, while convicting Singh, said, "The prosecution has succeeded in proving that the accused was dealing with files pertaining to renewal of licences of shops at Gole Market area and by abusing his position as public servant, obtained Rs 10000 for himself as bribe from the complainant Sushil Kumar Bansal...essential ingredient to constitute offence under PC Act stands proved against him. "

During the trial, Singh had denied the allegations and claimed that some of the shopkeepers, whose licences had expired, had refused to agree for eviction, so the complainant and others started pressurising the estate department to hurriedly renew their licence deeds.

PTI