Chandigarh: Holding that no leniency will be shown in the cases of corruption, Dr Sushil Kumar Garg, the special judge for CBI court, Chandigarh has ordered four years of rigorous imprisonment to a former medical officer of the district jail Ropar who was convicted in a bribery case.
The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the doctor. The medical officer was arrested in 2014 in a case of corruption after a complainant alleged that he took a bribe of Rs 4000 from her to refer her son to PGI, Chandigarh.
The convict has been held guilty under sections 7 and 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, by the court of special CBI Judge.
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As per the recent media report by The Tribune, the complainant alleged that his son was booked in a criminal case, and when she met her son at the Mohali court during the case hearing, he asked her mother to request the doctor to refer him to PGI, Chandigarh for treatment. According to the allegations, when she requested the accused medical officer of the district jail to refer her son, he sought a bribe of Rs 5,000 from her. However, at last, he agreed to refer her son to PGI in exchange for a bribe of Rs 4000.
Thereafter, the woman approached CBI and filed a complaint against the doctor. Following the complaint, a team of CBI officers laid a trap to nab the doctor red-handed. As per the plan, the complainant called the doctor in sector 40 Chandigarh to receive the bribe. The accused too reached there by cab and CBI caught him in action while accepting the bribe. He was arrested and thereafter the CBI court framed corruption charges against the medical officer according to the protocols.
The Indian Express reports that on Monday, the former medical officer pleaded for leniency in punishment stating that his mother is a 67-year-old who is suffering from several health issues. He also added that he also has a 21-year-old son who is completely dependent on him. Mentioning his unblemished career in government service, the doctor appealed for leniency in punishment. He also stated that due to the case he had to face mental trauma for the last seven years and he might also lose his government job including all pensionary benefits.
However, the CBI public prosecutor Kanwar Pal Singh submitted that the court must give exemplary punishment to the doctor to ensure that no public servant would ever indulge in the illegal practice of corruption. He also mentioned that it is extremely necessary to not adopt any kind of leniency in the judgment to keep a check on the rampant increase of corruption in public life because leniency or sympathy in the case will convey a wrong message to the anti-social elements, reports TIE.
According to The Tribune, considering the submission of both the parties, the court observed,
" The accused doctor was working as a medical officer in the District Jail, Ropar. He had received illegal gratification of Rs 4000 for referring the complainant's son to the PGI. Therefore, while imposing a sentence to the convict in this type of corruption case, the court should not show leniency. When such a medical officer does not act with integrity, the entire society will suffer. Corruption deserves no sympathy and leniency."
The court, subsequently, pronounced its judgment awarding four years of imprisonment for the accused doctor and also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the doctor.