In a move that can prove as a deterrence the Rouse Avenue court has recently convicted three people, including MCD's Junior Engineer, for ‘demanding and accepting’ a bribe for allowing the construction of a house. The bribery case was registered by CBI.
It was alleged that the complainant was threatened if the demand was not fulfilled. One accused was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe.While convicting the accused, the court said there was sufficient evidence to hold all three.
The CBI registered a case in 2024 on a complaint filed by Arun Kumar Gupta.Special Judge (CBI) Shailender Malik convicted Surender Kumar, Surender Kumar Jangra and MCD Junior Engineer Ramesh Chand Jain. Jain was working as a junior engineer (JE) at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), while Jangra was a former helper. Sharma, a private person, had posed as an MCD official in connivance with Jain.
According to the prosecution, on March 18, 2024, Sharma demanded a bribe from complainant Arun Kumar Gupta for allowing him to construct a house. He also threatened to demolish the complainant's house.Gupta lodged a complaint as he did not want to pay the amount.
In a judgment dated December 24, the court said there was "sufficient evidence showing that Sharma and Jangra demanded the bribe amount as well as Sharma was found red-handed accepting the bribe amount, which was recovered from his possession." It further held that the evidence established that the accused acted "in connivance and conspiracy with Jain who was actually working as JE in MCD," adding that the charge stood proved against all three.
"Therefore, all three accused persons are held guilty for the offence under Section 7 of the P.C. Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), read with Section 120B of IPC," Special Judge Malik said in a judgment of December 24. The court concluded that there is sufficient evidence that Surender Kumar and Surender Kumar Jangra demanded the bribe, and that Surender Kumar was found red-handed accepting it, which was recovered from his possession.
It was alleged that on March 18, 2024, the accused demanded Rs. 30,000 to allow construction of the complainant's house at the behest of Ramesh Chand Jain. This was reported to the CBI. Accused Surender Kumar was arrested while accepting the bribe of Rs. 15,000.The court has listed the matter for hearing arguments on the sentence on January 5.Rejecting the defence arguments, the court observed that the testimonies of the complainant and witnesses were "consistent and specific" and duly supported by scientific and electronic evidence.
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