Chandigarh: DSP Raka Ghirra convicted in 2011 graft case
In 2011, DSP Raka Ghirra was arrested by CBI from her residence at Sector 15, Chandigarh, for accepting a bribe of ₹1 lakh from a realtor to settle his case
After 12 years of long-winding trial, a special CBI court on Monday convicted retired Punjab deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Raka Ghirra in a 2011 corruption case.
Ghirra, 60, was found guilty under Sections 7, 13 (1) (d) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on February 7.
In 2011, Ghirra was arrested by CBI from her residence at Sector 15, Chandigarh, for accepting a bribe of ₹1 lakh from a realtor to settle his case.
The trap was laid after complainant Krishna Kumar Malhotra alleged that the DSP had demanded a bribe of ₹2 lakh to settle the investigation into a complaint against him in a land dispute. He was accused of certain irregularities related to the land, located in Mullanpur village.
During the raids, CBI had also seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition, including a .32-bore German revolver and a double-barrel gun, along with multiple cartridges. But she was acquitted in the arms seizure case in 2019.
Recruited in police on compassionate grounds
In 2001, Ghirra was recruited as an inspector in the Punjab Police on compassionate grounds after the death of her husband and promoted as DSP in 2007. At the time of the corruption case, she was a DSP in Mohali.
In April 23, 2012, CBI had filed a chargesheet in a special CBI court, charging her with criminal conspiracy and corruption.
Ghirra’s reader Manmohan Singh was also arrested in the case, but CBI did not name him in the chargesheet after he became an approver in the case.
The CBI fought the case using testimonies of 21 witnesses, including five star-witnesses, Ghirra’s reader among them.
Complainant turned hostile
During the course of the trial, complainant Krishna Kumar Malhotra turned hostile. In October 2011, he moved the Punjab and Haryana high court, alleging threat to his and his family’s life. He alleged that senior politicians, bureaucrats and Punjab Police officers were pressuring him to withdraw the case and threatening him of dire consequences if he didn’t.
In 2018, acting on her plea seeking quashing of challan presented by CBI, the high court had stayed the trial proceedings. Ever since, CBI had been pressing for a vacation of the stay, but the high court allowed it only in August 2023.
Ghirra again moved the high court in November 2023, following which the high court restrained the trial court from passing a final order, but allowed it to continue with the proceedings.
On Monday, the special CBI court held Ghirra guilty, following which she was taken into policy custody.
Case timeline
July 2011: CBI nabs Punjab Police DSP Raka Ghirra while accepting ₹1 lakh bribe from a realtor at her house in Sector 15, Chandigarh
April 2012: CBI files chargesheet against her
2018: Punjab and Haryana high court orders stay on the trial
August 2023: High court vacates the stay
February 5, 2024: Special CBI court convicts Ghirra
