Public Works Department (PWD) Man Gets 7 yrs for Graft
Two officials, one from the state Public Works Department (PWD) and the other from the Mumbai police, were sentenced to jail in two separate cases of corruption on Monday.
In the first instance, Babasaheb Bajirao Patil, a PWD section officer working at Mantralaya, was sentenced to an unprecedented seven years in jail and fined Rs 1 lakh by a special sessions court.
The stiff sentence came after public prosecutor Dileep Shah cited judgments of the supreme court saying corruption is a social evil that must be dealt with very strictly by the judiciary.
According to the apex court, corrupt government servants should not be let off with mild sentences but should be given prison terms which act as a deterrent for others. Judge D B Pujari could have sentenced the PWD official to a minimum of one year in prison but he chose to give him the longest jail term possible under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to information, Patil had demanded money to issue a reinstatement letter to a suspended PWD employee.
Keshavrao Thorat, who was posted in Nashik, was suspended from service in 1991 but was ordered to be reinstated by a labour court in 1998.
For three years, Thorat kept sending applications to Mantralaya to get his reinstatement orders but in vain. In 2001, citing ill-health, he asked his son-in-law, Rajesh Bindra, to pursue the matter.
On December 7, 2001, Patil told Bindra to give him Rs 15,000 for the letter. He also said that Thorat stood to gain Rs 1,50,000 of his arrears if Bindra paid the bribe. Bindra then informed the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) of Mumbai police and Patil was arrested by laying a trap on December 8, 2001.
The long prison term also meant that Patil was immediately taken to prison after the sentencing and would now have to approach the Bombay high court for bail.
In cases where the jail term exceeds three years the convict can be granted bail only by the high court.
In the other case, N B Patil, a sub-inspector attached to Pydhonie police station, was sentenced to two years in prison by judge V B Rothe.
Patil had received a complaint from a woman called Sushila Chheda saying another woman, Pritika Ambore, had taken Rs 23 lakh from her as a loan and not returned the amount.
Patil then called Ambore to the police station and demanded Rs 5 lakh to settle the dispute between her and Chheda. After negotiations, the bribe amount was reduced to Rs 25,000.
On December 3, 1998, Patil called the two women first to Dahisar and then took them to the lock-up of Santa Cruz police station where he allegedly helped them reach a compromise.
Two days later he asked Ambore to come to Copper Chimney restaurant in Worli to pay the bribe amount. She informed the ACB and Patil was arrested.
Chheda later denied that she ever had a financial dispute with Ambore. Judge Rothe also fined the inspector Rs 10,000 for the crime.