NHAI staff, PA get four-year rigorous imprisonment for graft
CHENNAI: A special CBI court in Chennai sentenced a former project director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and his personal assistant to four years of rigorous imprisonment in a corruption case registered in October 2017. The convicts were identified as H Bhima Simha Hindupur, then Project Director of NHAI’s Project Implementation Unit in Villupuram, and J Saravanan, his personal assistant appointed through a contractor.
The CBI registered the case on October 27, 2017, based on a complaint alleging that Simha had demanded a bribe of Rs 2 lakh to grant permission to run a restaurant along the National Highway at Villupuram. The complainant owned land beside the highway where he was operating Sara Restaurant. As per Simha’s instructions, the complainant handed over his land documents to Saravanan.
CBI laid a trap and caught both accused red-handed while demanding and accepting the bribe. A chargesheet was filed on June 7, 2019, and the court later found them guilty. They were also fined `40,000 each.