STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Special Judge Anti-corruption Court, Jammu, Tahir Khurshid Raina, awarded one year imprisonment to a Patwari namely Mohd Sharief in a trap case in F.I.R No. 17/2016, Police Station VOJ (Now ACB) Jammu, for commission of offences under Secs-4 A and 5(1)(d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, Svt. 2006. The prosecution case against the accused Patwari was that one Narain Singh approached him for issuance of an attested copy of Mutation of the land in Village Surinsar which was purchased by him for construction of the house. He took Rs. 9000 from him in the name of fees and told him to get the same after sometime. Thereafter, he repeatedly met him but the said Patwari did not issue him the desired Revenue document and told him to pay Rs 4000 more. The complainant approached Vigilance Organization Jammu. After doing the preliminary verification, a trap team with two independent witnesses was constituted by the SSP Vigilance and sent to Surinsar along with the complainant. The complainant met the accused Patwari at the fixed time and spot. The bribe money was exchanged. As the bribe money exchanged, the shadow independent witness gave pre-fixed signal to the trap team which rushed to the spot and caught the accused red-handed. The bribe amount, which was already dusted with phenolphthalein powder, was recovered from the packet of the accused. He was subjected to hand wash and pocket wash which tested positive for the P-powder test. The investigation in the case finally culminated into the charge-sheet filed in the said court and charge was framed and trial commenced in the case. Finally, the court convicted the accused and awarded sentence of one year imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 10,000 to the accused for commission of offences under Sec. 4-A, Prevention of Corruption Act, Svt. 2006. Similar sentence was awarded to the accused for commission of offence under sections 5(1)(d) of said Act. Both the sentences to run concurrently. “Unless citizens in general and government servants in particular, are taught to develop a mindset which is averse to and ashamed of corruption, it will not be possible to curb the menace of corruption. Continuous education to create awareness about ethical values in life, therefore, can play a pivotal role in the fight against corruption. Even the famous golden words of the architect of the Constitution, Dr. Ambedkar, are much pertinent to be quoted here. The purpose of education is to moralize and civilize the people,” the Court observed.