JOIN USThe Special Lokayukta Court will pronounce the judgment in the case of BJP MLA of Kolar Gold Fields MLA Y Sampangi on Saturday.
Sampangi has been charged with accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from a businessman Farooq in January 2011. He was trapped by the Lokayukta police at Legislators’ Home while accepting the bribe and booked under Prevention of Corruption Act. Sampangi could receive anywhere from one year to seven years of imprisonment, if convicted of the offences against him.
The trapping of the KGF MLA was the first high profile case for the Lokayukta police, who till then restricted themselves to trapping lower ranked officials on charges of bribery and possession of assets disproportionate to known sources of income.
The case has seen many twists and turns as the complainant had approached the High Court seeking cancellation of bail to Sampangi, as his life was under threat. Applications by the Lokayukta police to cancel the bail to Sampangi twice by the Lokayukta police did not meet with success either. At one point during the trial, the Lokayukta Court had cancelled his bail and remanded him to judicial custody for a few days, to allow two witnesses who had complained of being threatened, to be able to depose in a free and fearless atmosphere.
A special House Committee, which looked into corruption charges levelled against Sampangi, had recommended to the State Assembly to close the issue in March 2010.
The committee had suggested to the House that Hussain Farooq, complainant in the corruption case be reprimanded, for tarnishing the MLA’s image by making ‘false allegations’ against him.