Chandigarh MC official gets 4-year jail in 2019 bribe case

A former sanitary inspector with the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) has been sentenced to four-year imprisonment in a bribery case from 2019.

The court of additional district and sessions judge Ashwini Kumar also imposed a fine of ₹20,000 on the convict, Naresh Kumar, who was arrested in 2019.

A vigilance team had caught Kumar red-handed on August 17, 2019, accepting a ₹2,500 bribe from Ajay, an MC horticulture wing employee.

Ajay, previously in the medical officer health (MOH) wing, had complained that Kumar demanded the bribe for his transfer back to the wing.

The complainant worked on contract basis in the civic body, while Kumar was a permanent employee. Ajay lodged a complaint with the vigilance department regarding the demand for bribe and also submitted the call recording of the conversation as evidence.

After this, the vigilance team had laid a trap and caught Kumar while accepting the bribe near the Seva Bharti building in Sector 29, recovering the entire bribe amount from him.

Awarding the sentence, the court remarked,“Corruption in a civilised society is a disease like cancer, which, if not detected and cured in time, is sure to malign the polity of our country leading to disastrous consequences. This (corruption) has entered into society to such an extent that many people think that it is unavoidable. Many see it as normal and not immoral and that is disturbing. The corrupt have turned and twisted the system to suit them and have thrived. Many have prospered. Corruption is a social evil, which has eroded the applicability of justice and fairness in society. The persons like the convict encourage corruption and think that they can get every work done by giving the bribe to public servants. If any leniency is shown towards the convict, it may send wrong signals in society.”