New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday sentenced
the Assistant Director of Delhi Development Authority and two
others to varying jail terms, observing that the menace of
corruption has increased due to "lenient views" taken in the
past.
"The menace of corruption has entered into each and
every segment of the society. Because lenient views have been
taken in the past, we have reached the present hopeless
situation," Special CBI Judge Pradeep Chaddah said.
The court sent DDA`s Assistant Director Pradeep Kumar
Sharma and clerk Ved Prakash to jail for three years and also
imposed a fine of one lakh each on both the convicts.
One of their accomplices Inderjeet, a tea vendor who
had acted as a conduit, was awarded one year jail term along
with a fine of Rs 20,000.
The trio was arrested by the CBI following a complaint
by Nangloi resident Chattar Singh in 2001.
Singh had alleged that the officials had demanded Rs
5,000 bribe from him for issuing a no objection certificate
for his property.
He had said that he needed the certificate as he had
to take loan from a bank.
The CBI sleuths had caught the convicts red-handed
from their office when they received Rs 3,000 as bribe from
the complainant.
The court, while sentencing the convicts to jail term,
declined the submissions of the counsel for Sharma and Prakash
that lenient view should be taken as they have two children
each and their spouses are not earning members.
"Merely because their spouses are not earning should
not lead the court to treat them with kid gloves," the court
said.
PTI
