Maximum sentence should be given to tackle corruption: Court

NEW DELHI: Noting that maximum sentence is the need of the hour for public servants indulging in corruption, a city court has sentenced a suspended Junior Engineer of the Delhi Vidyut Board to three years' rigorous imprisonment for taking a bribe of Rs 3,000.

"Nobody can deny the fact that corruption is rampant in public offices. To curb the menace of corruption, maximum sentence is the need of the hour for public servants heldguilty under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act," Special Judge Vinod Goel said, while holding Babu Ram (37), who was posted as Junior Engineer at Nand Nagri, guilty.

According to the prosecution, Babu Ram abused his official position as a public servant and demanded a bribe of Rs 3,000 from the complainant Satya Prakash for settlement of his electricity dues, which was pending with the accused.
 
Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) sleuths of the CBI had arrested Babu Ram on December 19, 2000, while he was taking the bribe of Rs 3,000, from Satya Prakash, who had lodged a complaint with them.
 
Earlier, opposing leniency plea of the convict, Public Prosecutor Mohammed Shakeel said that if taking bribe had become a norm in society, the convict should be handed down optimum punishment to send across a right message.

The court, acceding to his argument, also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Babu Ram.

"Undue sympathy to impose inadequate sentence would do more harm to the criminal justice delivery system. Punishment awarded should be deterrent enough so as to deter not only the accused but also to other public servants engaged in similar activities," the Judge said in his order, while holding him guilty under sections 7 and 13 (1) of the PC Act.