BENGALURU: The Special Judge for CBI Cases sentenced Srikanth L K, Office Superintendent, South Western Railway (SWR), Mysuru Division, to undergo simple imprisonment for three years and pay Rs 3 lakh fine for an offence punishable under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“Despite the passing of several legislations to curb corruption in administration and also convicting public servants in many cases, public servants are not carrying out their duties and responsibilities towards the public. Therefore, in order to see that some message is sent to the accused as well as to the society, it is necessary to impose a fine of at least Rs 3 lakh,” said Judge H A Mohan.
The Central Bureau of Investigation filed a chargesheet against Srikanth after he was arrested for receiving Rs 25,000 out of Rs 1 lakh bribe. He had demanded the bribe to complete the formalities on appointing complainant Vinod Kumar on compassionate grounds in the department due to the death of his mother Nirmala, who was working in the railway department, on August 27, 2020.
The accused called the complainant and his relative Prabhu Kumar from his and his wife’s personal
mobile phones and asked for the bribe. The conversation was recorded by Prabhu Kumar on his mobile phone.
The complainant did not want to pay the bribe and therefore, he filed a complaint with the CBI on August 25, 2020. A CBI team was formed to lay a trap and the accused was arrested after he received Rs 25,000 from one George near Vidyavardhaka College Circle in Mysuru on August 27, 2020. It was captured on CCTV.