BENGALURU: A Special Court sentenced a revenue inspector to five years of rigorous imprisonment for demanding and taking a bribe. The court ordered the offender to pay a fine of Rs 4 lakh, double the amount of bribe he had taken.
GC Suresh (51), attached to Nada Kacheri in Kengeri, was charged by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for offences punishable under Section 7, 13(a)(d) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
On the quantum of punishment, Special Judge K Lakshminarayana Bhat said: “The sentence to be imposed on the offender will have far-reaching consequences, in particular on other like-minded public servants working in the revenue department who are involved in corruption.
After considering age and other mitigating factors, this court finds it just and proper to sentence the offender to rigorous imprisonment for a period of five years.” The court said that, in a recent judgment, the Supreme Court held that corruption is a malaise pervading every walk of life. If the corrupt succeed in duping law enforcers, their success erodes even the fear of getting caught...Tracking down corrupt public servants and punishing them appropriately is the mandate of the Prevention of Corruption Act,” the court said.
Threw cash on ground
Suresh had demanded Rs 5 lakh as bribe, and after negotiation, agreed to Rs 4 lakh to register names in the mutation register, on the basis of a registered sale deed. He was caught red-handed, accepting Rs 2 lakh on September 2, 2016, from the informant, in Nagarabhavi in the city. On noticing the police, the accused, threw the plastic bag of cash on the ground.