MCD official awarded 3-yr jail in graft case

An MCD official and a tout have been sentenced to varying jail terms by a Delhi court for taking bribe to allow reconstruction of a building.

Special judge Dharmesh Sharma sentenced Municipal Corporation of Delhi assistant zonal inspector Ravinder Kumar Sehrawat of civic body’s house tax department to three years in jail, while sentencing his tout Ram Singh Rawat, 39, who used to extract money from public on his behalf, to a year in jail.

The court sentenced them saying they had devised an “ingenuous ploy” to extract illegal gratification from vulnerable sections of the society.

“This court is not oblivious of such practises prevailing in several government departments where private individuals are working and performing official duties for one or the other public servant.

Public interest demands that such tendencies must be curbed with an iron hand,” the judge said.

After imposing the jail term, the court, however, put off their sentences and granted them bail to enable them go in appeal against their conviction and sentencing.
The prosecution case dated back to June 10, 2003, when Saket resident Alok Gupta lodged a compliant with the CBI that Rawat, acting in collusion with Sehrawat, had demanded a bribe of Rs 5,000 for a ‘No Objection Certificate’ to allow him reconstruct his house.
On Gupta’s complaint, the CBI laid a trap and arrested Rawat red-handed, while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000.

The court rejected the defence counsel’s contention that both the accused were falsely implicated in the case.