TUMAKURU: In a groundbreaking judgement, the seventh additional district and sessions court here on Saturday sentenced a deputy tahsildar and a village accountant to a rigorous imprisonment (RI) of four years in a corruption case, besides instructing the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to book the complainant, who turned hostile, a KAS officer and a Lokayukta investigating officer for allegedly giving false evidence.
Judge TP Gowda, at the special court to try cases related to Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), convicted Village Accountant R Shivakumar and Deputy Tahsildar HT Vasantharaju in Kunigal taluk on two counts for offence under Section 7 of PCA and under Section 13(1)(d) read with 13(2) of PCA.
A fine of Rs 40,000 each has been imposed on the convicts and in case of default of payment, they will undergo simple imprisonment for six months. The sentences against both of them on two counts shall run concurrently, the order stated.
The CAO has been directed to register a private complaint before jurisdictional magistrate against the complainant, Rajesh Prasad YS, under Section 340 of CrPC for the offence of giving false evidence punishable under Section 191 read with 193 of IPC and also against former Kunigal Tahsildar Shambhulingaiah and Lokayukta Investigating Officer Goutham under Section 340 of CrPC for the offences of ‘fabrication of false evidence and giving false evidence’, punishable under Section 191 & 192 read with 193 of IPC. Shambhulingaiah is at present the additional director and deputy secretary with the social welfare department, Vikasa Soudha in Bengaluru and Goutham is the Lokayukta DySP in Ramanagara.
On August 11, 2014, the convicts had seized the Sri Siddalingeshwara Computer Training Centre at Yediyur owned by YS Rajesh Prasad, a priest at Siddalingeshwara temple, for illegally generating the UIDAI Aadhaar card for the public. They conducted the mahzar and booked Rajendra Prasad.
In the meantime, Rajendra Prasad allegedly met the tahsildar personally seeking favour. Later he met the convicts and held telephonic conversations with them in which the latter demanded Rs 25,000 on behalf of the tahsildar to drop the case. Eventually, the deal was struck for Rs 20,000. Following a complaint by Rajendra Prasad, the Lokayukta police team led by Inspector Goutham trapped the convicts and caught them red handed while collecting the cash on August 14, 2014.
In 2016, a chargesheet was filed before the court and during the trial of the case, the judge took cognisance of Rajendra Prasad turning hostile before the prosecution and the tahsildar and IO, as prosecution witnesses, fabricating the evidence, said Lokayukta Special Public Prosecutor N Basavaraju.