Chandigarh: Seeking ₹7,000 bribe from murder convict lands law officer in jail for 4 years
The accused, Munish Mittal, the then law officer at the office of ADGP, Prisons, Punjab, Sector 17, Chandigarh, was held guilty under Sections 7 and 13 (1) (d) punishable under Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act
Observing that uncontrolled corruption has spread like a contagious disease, a CBI court has sentenced a law officer to four years in prison for demanding ₹7,000 bribe from a murder convict for clearing his parole file in 2015.
The accused, Munish Mittal, the then law officer at the office of ADGP, Prisons, Punjab, Sector 17, Chandigarh, was held guilty under Sections 7 and 13 (1) (d) punishable under Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“The convict was in an office wherein he had ample opportunity to assist the general public in their problems. Instead, the convict, even for official work that he was required to do, asked the complainant to pay him and tried to find loopholes in the system to gain for himself,” said the court of special CBI judge Jagjit Singh in its order.
The order stated that corruption in a civilised society was a disease like cancer, which, if not detected in time, was sure to malign the polity of our country, leading to disastrous consequences.
“Corruption has only progressively gotten worse in recent years. So much so that many of us think that it is unavoidable. Many see it as normal and not immoral. That is disturbing,” remarked the court, adding that the corrupt had turned and twisted the system to suit them and had thrived.
“Many have prospered. Corruption is a social evil, which has eroded the applicability of justness and fairness in society,” it said.
Mittal was arrested in August 2015 on the complaint of Amrik Singh, a farmer from Patiala, who was convicted in a murder case from November 1996.
Singh was awarded a 20-year jail sentence and was lodged at Modern Jail, Nabha. After 14 years in jail, he was allowed parole for 15 days in August 2015.
His file regarding the parole was pending for many days at the office of ADGP, Prisons, Punjab, in Chandigarh.
As per his written complaint to CBI, on August 22, 2018, deputy superintendent, Modern Jail, Nabha, informed him that he will have to pay bribe to Mittal to get the file cleared.
He alleged that when he contacted Mittal, he summoned him to his office in Sector 17 and on reaching there, the law officer demanded ₹7,000 as bribe. Singh instead approached CBI that laid a trap and Mittal was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe money.
Before pronouncement of sentence, Mittal sought leniency from court, whereas the public prosecutor for CBI Narender Singh sought exemplary punishment.
