Former revenue clerk gets 3 years in jail for taking Rs 5000 bribe in 2008

The court held Sangani guilty under Prevention of Corruption Act’s Section 7 (Public servant taking gratification other than legal remuneration in respect of an official act) and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment.

The court held the clerk guilty under Section 13(1)(d) (public servant obtaining pecuniary gain for himself through corrupt or illegal means) read with section 13 (2) (punishment for criminal misconduct by public servant) and sentenced him to three years of imprisonment. The court also imposed a total Rs 8,000 fine on the clerk.

According to the prosecution’s case, Chaniyara had approached Sangani to get his wife’s name entered into revenue records of her father’s agricultural land located at Sai Devaliya village through mutation entry. However, Sangani demanded Rs 7,000 bribe for doing the work. Chaniyara, a resident of Rajkot, paid Rs 2,000 and promised to pay the balance Rs 5,000 later on.

In the meantime, Chaniyara filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). In response, the ACB laid a trap in Rajkot city and detained Sangani as soon as he accepted Rs 5,000 cash from Chaniyara on May 31, 2008.

“The government witness in the trap testified in favour of our case. The currency notes of Rs 5000 face-value and given as bribe were recovered from the possession of the accused. All this proved crucial pieces of evidence and the Court weighed in favour of the prosecution,” Samir Khira, additional public prosecutor of the case said.

After being arrested by ACB, Sangani had subsequently got bail and he was reinstated as a clerk. He retired in 2018. After convicting him, the sessions court granted Sangani bail to allow him to appeal against the conviction.