Govt official jailed for taking bribe from 1984 riot victim

“To my mind,the convict,in spite of being a public servant,was totally oblivious of the pain and suffering of the riot victims and by demanding and accepting the bribe from the complainant showed utter lack of sensitivity and depraved human approach,” the judge said while also imposing a fine of Rs 25,000 upon the convict.

The judge refused to show leniency to Takkar saying “rampant corruption by public servants is shaking the confidence of the people in governance and the affairs of the state beyond repairs.”

The court said,”The 1984 riots in Delhi and elsewhere is a black chapter in the history of post-independent India and judicial cognizance of the fact can be taken that many people were killed,maimed,displaced and made to suffer irreparable personal and property loss.”

Takkar,who was dealing with disbursement of compensation to 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims,was found guilty of demanding a bribe of Rs 10,000 from complainant Gurmeet Singh Kapoor in August 2006 for releasing over Rs two lakh to him as compensation for the death of his grandfather Inder Singh Kapoor and uncle Paramjeet Singh Kapoor in riots here in the aftermath of assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Takkar was arrested by CBI for allegedly accepting the bribe money in a trap laid by the probe agency following Kapoor’s complaint.

During the trial,Takkar had contended that the money had been thrust into his hands but the court rejected it saying,”When money was so thrust upon him,assuming his version to be true for the sake of convenience,he did not protest nor made any hue and cry or threw it away.”

The court also awarded a compensation of Rs 25,000 to Kapoor for “pain,mental agony and harassment suffered by him in the processing of this case,for his appearances in the office of CBI and in the court.”