NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday sentenced two CBI officers to three months in jail for assaulting an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer and trespassing into his residence during a raid more than two decades ago. Judicial Magistrate Shashank Nandan Bhatt awarded the sentence to Ramneesh, now a joint director in the CBI, and V K Pandey, a retired ACP of Delhi Police. Both were also fined Rs 50,000 each.
The court had convicted the two on April 18, rejecting their claim that their actions were part of official duties. It held that the search and arrest of Ashok Kumar Aggarwal, a 1985-batch IRS officer, were carried out on October 19, 2000, with mala fide intent and constituted an abuse of power beyond their authority.
Aggarwal had alleged the raid was retaliatory, linked to disputes with senior officials. He claimed it was meant to undermine a Central Administrative Tribunal order directing a review of his suspension.
The judge found that the officers forcibly entered Aggarwal’s house by breaking open the door without sufficient justification. Their actions, conducted in a mala fide manner, bore no reasonable nexus with lawful discharge of duty.