Govt official jailed for taking bribe to disburse compensation to Sikh riot victims

Express News Service, Fri, Sep 02, 2011, New Delhi:

A Delhi government official has been sentenced to three and half years in jail by a court for taking bribe from a 1984 anti-Sikh riots victim for releasing compensation to the family.

Special CBI Judge Dharmesh Sharma on Thursday sentenced 53-year-old Naib Tehsildar I K Takkar, a revenue clerk posted in the office of Najafgarh Sub Divisional Magistrate in West Delhi, for taking bribes five years ago.

“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.

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 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 the pogroms, which took place in the aftermath of the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi. Takkar was arrested by CBI for allegedly accepting the bribe money in a trap laid by CBI 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”.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/govt-official-jailed-for-taking-bribe-to-dis/840466/

DC says he has to take permission of Commissioner to not take bribes

It is no secret that residents of the national capital face rampant corruption that exists in various government offices, but if the attitude of the government officials is anything to go by then the wait for a corruption free country is a long one. This was what people learnt when they visited the Deputy Commissioner office, Central District, Daryaganj, New Delhi launching the “Say No To Bribe” campaign.

Nearly 100 people had gathered at DC office with a declaration in hand stating that the offices of the DC office would not accept bribe or allow their colleagues to take bribe. Surprisingly, the Deputy Commissioner, Akash Mohapatra, outrightly refused to sign the declaration saying that he would have to first seek the permission of the Commissioner. Yashwant Singh, an IAC volunteer, who was a part of a team of three persuading the DC to sign the declaration, informed that the DC fist said that they were not allowed to do so under existing rules. However, he had no answer when he was asked to cite the rules. Later the DC said he can sign the declaration only if the Commissioner permits. He also asked the volunteers to visit the commissioner’s office which was nearby to seek permission. Rajkumar, another member of the team, said, “It is shocking that the DC refused to sign a piece of paper that just said he would neither indulge in corruption himself nor allow his colleagues to do so.” This was contrary to the attitude of some of the junior staff who willingly signed the declaration. In total, 21 officers signed the declaration.

The volunteers proceeded to paste stickers stating “Bhrashtachar Nished” (corruption free zone) across the campus. The volunteers then peacefully sat outside the office of the DC shouting slogans of “Inqalab Zindabad”, “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Red-Tapism Down Down”. However, this had no effect on the DC who quietly left the office premises without signing any declaration.

They sat in protest outside the office of the DC till late evening. Later the volunteers left the venue vouching to come back again.

The “Say No to Bribe” campaign was launched under the banner of India Against Corruption. Starting this week, the volunteers plan to visit various government offices with the tricolor in hand and get declarations signed from officials. Similar initiatives are already being held in Mumbai, Pune, and Chennai.

UP transport staff kill truck driver for refusing bribe

Agencies, Mon, Sep 26, 2011, Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh:

A truck driver was killed today allegedly by Road Transport Office (RTO) staffers after he refused to pay bribe during a vehicle checking drive in Naubatpur locality in Sayyadraza area here, police said.

Anant Lal Gupta, 50, from Kaushambi district, was allegedly beaten to death around 5 am by some members of the RTO staff, Superintendent of Police Shalabh Mathur, said.

The victim's son Ashwini, 23, who worked as a cleaner with his father, said: “One of the constables of the RTO Department took the vehicle for weighing centre and found the truck was not overloaded. He still demanded Rs 1,000.”

His father was willing to pay only Rs 500 after which the RTO constables and one Shiv Kumar of the weighing centre beat him brutally, causing his death, he said.

After the incident, angry locals blocked the National Highway-2 in protest and turned violent, pelting stones at the police when they tried to disperse the crowd, Mathur said.

A police constable was injured in the incident. The police fired in the air and baton-charged crowds to control the situation, he said. An FIR has been registered in the incident, Mathur added.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/up-transport-staff-kill-truck-driver-for-refusing-bribe/852006/

Corrupt babus will now face pension cut

Press Trust of India, Mon, Sep 12, 2011, New Delhi:

Mere retirement will not be a ground for dropping proceedings against corrupt government servants who will now face a 10 per cent cut in pension in case of minor penalty. The present major penalty of compulsory retirement with full benefits will be changed hereafter with a cut of 20 per cent in pension.

The new rules will be effective under decisions made in the first report of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Corruption headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

In a bid to tackle corruption and to fast track cases of public servants accused of graft, the GoM has decided to eliminate certain tiers in consultation process.

The government’s decisions come in the wake of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign for a Lokpal Bill that would also cover bureaucratic graft.

Until now, a government servant on the verge of retirement can escape proceedings for minor penalty. The GoM has now decided mere superannuation should not be a ground for dropping proceedings for minor penalty.

A cut in pension upto 10 per cent may be imposed in case of minor penalty. This cut will have a ceiling of five years as a life-long reduction in pension would come under the category of major penalty.

The existing major penalty of compulsory retirement with full benefits may be changed to compulsory retirement along with a provision that the competent authority may impose upto 20 per cent cut in pension.

However, there would be no cut in pension in the cases of compulsory retirement of officers being weeded out for non-performance.

The GoM has also decided to make the departments and ministries to primarily use serving officers as Inquiry and Presenting Officers in one of the steps towards speeding up the inquiry proceedings.

In important cases, the officers may request the Central Vigilance Commission to appoint their Commissioner of Direct Inquiries as IO. The GoM is also of the opinion that CVC may also maintain a panel of IOs and POs from among retired officers after screening and empanelment. They could also be engaged on the advice of the CVC.

Taking into account that delays in sanction of prosecution of public servants, the GoM says that it was imperative that sanction should be decided expeditiously and within the prescribed time-frame of 3 months.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/corrupt-babus-will-now-face-pension-cut/845211/0

10 DJB officials under CBI scanner

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times, New Delhi, September 16, 2011

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday registered cases against 10 officials of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and five of its private contractors over alleged irregularities and illegalities related to the award of its tubewell installation contracts worth Rs. 1.35 crore in the city’s water-deficient parts.

Though the DJB had made the full payment of Rs. 1.35 crore to the five contractors, work at several tubewell installation projects allegedly never started, said a CBI source. The contracts were issued between 2008 and 2010 for installation of tubewells, especially in Delhi’s western parts.

Among the DJB officials mentioned in the FIRs, included the name of executive engineer P K Jain. During searches conducted at the 14 official and residential premises belonging to the accused persons in the city, the CBI seized cash worth Rs. 9.36 lakh, a large amount of jewellery, and documents related to bank lockers from Jain’s residence, said the source.

As part of an alleged conspiracy between the accused officials and the contractors, the DJB was made to make full payment, according to preliminary findings by the agency. “An examination of their work showed that several of the tubewell installation contracts were not executed at all though the contracted firms had already received full payments from the DJB,” said a CBI source.

The source added, “We found that several other such projects were left incomplete but still the accused DJB officials had approved them and sanctioned the payments to the contractors.”

The contractors were also found to have used sub-standard material for their contracts. “Despite the deficiencies in the execution of the contracts, the accused DJB officials had passed the bills of the contractors knowing well that the work was either not executed or sub-standard material had been used,” said the source.

Other DJB officials mentioned in the FIRs include assistant engineer B D Arya and junior engineers Ashok Panwar, Rafiul Islam and Hari Singh. The contractors who have been named in the FIRs include Water Well, RB Sales and OM Decorators.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/10-DJB-officials-under-CBI-scanner/Article1-746660.aspx