BENGALURU: Special Judge for CBI cases, Dharwad, Justice N Subramanya sentenced two former income-tax officials -- Abhishek Tripathi and Alok Tiwari -- to four years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 1,10,000 each in a bribery case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against the I-T officials on allegations of demanding illegal gratification from the complainant for dropping prosecution proceedings against him under Section 276-B of the IT Act.
“Tripathi, who was then working as income-tax officer (TDS) in Belagavi, had demanded Rs 4 lakh as bribe from the complainant when he came to inquire about a show cause notice dated November 30, 2015, issued to his company for defaulting on belated tax remittance.
The bribe was later reduced to Rs 2.5 lakh, and Tripathi instructed the complainant to pay the amount to his colleague Tiwari, who in turn instructed him to hand over the bribe to a private person,” stated the CBI in an official release on Thursday.
Based on the complaint, the CBI had laid a trap and caught the private person while accepting the bribe on behalf of the accused government officials. CBI had investigated and charge-sheeted the two. “The trial court convicted both officials and acquitted the private person,” the Central anti-corruption agency added.