Subedar court-martialled, sentenced to 4 years’ rigorous imprisonment

The Subedar was tried for committing offences under Section 7 (for taking bribe of Rs 50,000) and under Section 13 (for disproportionate assets which included Rs 2,30,000) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The verdict of the General Court Martial (GCM) held at 61 Sub Area was delivered in Jaipur on Wednesday. (Representational image/File)

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

An Army Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of the rank of Subedar has been court-martialled for accepting bribe while serving with Military Engineering Service (MES) and has been sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment (RI), besides awarding him a sentence of dismissal from service. The verdict of the General Court Martial (GCM) held at 61 Sub Area was delivered in Jaipur on Wednesday.

The JCO was apprehended in a trap laid in January 2020 by Military Intelligence on the complaint of one Amarjit Singh that the Subedar working in Commander Works Engineer (CWE) Air Force, Lohegaon, Pune, was demanding bribe for favour in some contract. Amarjit Singh also had some audio conversations on his mobile. The trap team nabbed the Subedar with a bag containing Rs 50,000 in cash as bribe and an additional Rs 2,30,000.

The Subedar was tried for committing offences under Section 7 (for taking bribe of Rs 50,000) and under Section 13 (for disproportionate assets which included Rs 2,30,000) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The military court found the Subedar guilty of both the charges and sentenced him to a four-year RI, apart from awarding him dismissal from the service.

Story continues below this ad

While speaking to The Indian Express, Brig Janesh Khera (retd), the defence counsel, informed that the GCM did not consider the contentions of the accused in its reasons given in support of its findings and remained silent on many aspects.

ALSO READ | Ferozepur Cantt: Lt Col shoots wife dead, kills himself over ‘marital discord’

“Though the complainant had done the videography and audio recording of the alleged incident of bribe with the spy devices given to him by the intelligence unit, the same were not produced even when requested by the accused in defence,” said Brig Khera. The findings being perverse and against the weight of evidence and the sentence being disproportionate, the accused will exercise legal remedies against the ‘arbitrary decision’, he added.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram

Tags:
Army