Man who offered bribe to Chandigarh cop jailed for 5 years

Observing that the corrupt have turned and twisted the system to suit them and have thrived, a local court has awarded five years in jail to a man who offered bribe to a Chandigarh Police inspector in September 2015.

The court of additional sessions judge Jaibir Singh held Raman Verma guilty under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and also imposed a fine of ₹25,000.

Verma was found guilty of trying to bribe inspector Poonam Dilawari for undue favour in connection with an FIR, whose inquiry was pending at the Sector-26 police station, where she was the SHO.

While pronouncing sentence, the court observed that no leniency should be shown towards the convict.

“The corruption in a civilised society is a disease like cancer, which, if not detected and cured in time, is sure to malignant the polity of our country leading to disastrous consequences. This has entered into the society to such an extent that many persons think that it is unavoidable. Many see it as normal and not immoral and that is disturbing,” the court observed.

The order read, “The corrupt have turned and twisted the system to suit them and have thrived. The persons like convict encourage the corruption and think that they can get every work done by giving the bribe to public servants. The gravity of the offence increases in the present case from the fact that the convict has tried to bribe a police official in the rank of station house officer. If any leniency is shown towards the convict, it may send wrong signals in society.”

Case dates to 2015

As per case files, on September 14, 2015, police received information regarding mobile phone theft at Verma’s SCO in Sector 26 and a DDR was lodged.

The next day, Verma asked the SHO that besides the mobile phone, some files were also missing from the showroom and asked her to add the details in the DDR, but Dilawari refused. Thereafter, Verma sought action against a person with regard to a property dispute, which the SHO refused. He then gave a written complaint and an inquiry was marked.

On September 16, 2015, Verma again visited her office and insisted that an FIR be lodged on his complaint. The SHO told him that his complaint was already under inquiry and action will be taken as per law. However, Verma placed a packet with cash on her table, asking her “do him a favour”.

As per Dilawari’s complaint, she asked Verma to pick up the packet and leave, which was followed by an FIR against Verma under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

During trial, the defence counsel pleaded that there were documents in the packet and not cash, as claimed by the SHO.

However, the court held him guilty while observing that it had perused the CCTV footage and complainant’s version was fully corroborated from it.

While Verma pleaded for a lenient view, public prosecutor Hukam Singh argued that in the instant case, deterrent and maximum punishment should be awarded to the convict in view of the nature of offence committed by him and to curb the menace of corruption from the society.