Former Tehsildar gets 1- year jail in corruption case

Srinagar, Mar 23: A Court here Monday sentenced a former Tehsildar to one- year simple imprisonment after convicting him in a corruption case of 2010, even as it imposed Rs 20,000 as fine on the convict.

The Court of Special Judge Anti-Corruption, Tasleem Arif, convicted the then Tehsildar Chadoora, Muhammad Akram Khan, under Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) for accepting a bribe, after hearing the prosecution through special public prosecutor, Wajahat Jameel, and the accused through his counsel.

The prosecution case was based on a complaint made by a resident of Chadoora before the Vigilance Organization Kashmir, now replaced by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), alleging that the accused demanded Rs 20,000 from him to settle a pending property dispute in his favour. Following the complaint, a trap was laid by the vigilance team, during which the accused was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe at his residence in Jawahar Nagar, Srinagar. The tainted money was recovered from under a pillow in his room after the complainant and an independent witness signalled the trap team, the prosecution said. The investigation followed and the Court held the accused guilty of accepting illegal gratification in discharge of official duties after the conclusion of the trial. In the punishment to the accused, the Court took note of mitigating factors including the convict’s advanced age, retirement from service, clean antecedents, and the prolonged trial spanning over 15 years. The Court noted that certain mitigating or extenuating factors did exist which were thought to be peculiar to the accused. “He is now an elderly aged person having retired from services; he has faced the ordeal of a long trial for a period of some 15 years”, the court said. Moreover, the Court noted that the accused was stated to be the first offender and the Prosecution did not produce on record anything which could suggest that he had any track record of taking bribes or being a habitual bribe taker or that he earlier faced any corruption allegations. Accordingly, the court sentenced the convict to one year of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000 was imposed on him. In default of payment of fine, the convict would undergo an additional simple imprisonment of one month. However, the Court ordered that the period already undergone in custody by the convict, if any, be set off against the sentence.