The Special Court for the trial of cases registered under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act in Coimbatore on Thursday sentenced a former bill collector of Coimbatore Corporation and her husband to one year of Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) for demanding and accepting bribe for processing a property tax assessment application in 2009.
Special judge N. Sharmila awarded the punishment to N. Sarojini, 54, and her husband P. Saravanan of Tiruchi Road at Singanallur in Coimbatore.
According to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), Sarojini, who held the post of Junior Assistant in 2009 had been working as a bill collector in the Corporation’s east zone on deputation.
M. Arunachalam of Karthik Nagar at Sowripalayam had submitted an application for the assessment of property tax of his newly constructed house. Sarojini demanded a bribe of ₹8,000 for processing the application and for forwarding the file with her remarks to the Assistant Revenue Officer concerned for further approval.
Unwilling to bribe the official, Mr. Arunachalam approached the DVAC, which laid a trap. Sarojini and Saravanan met the complainant at his residence on August 21, 2009. The woman demanded and accepted ₹8,000 from the complainant and handed over the bribe to her husband. The DVAC trap team led by inspector A. Masutha Begum arrested the couple red-handed.
Inspector A. Sadashivam (retired as DSP) investigated the case and Special Public Prosecutor S. Sivakumar appeared for the prosecution.
The court on Thursday awarded one year each RI to Sarojini for offences committed under Section 7 and 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of PC Act. Saravanan was awarded eight months and one year RI for offences under Section 12 and 13 (2) read with 13 (1) (d) of PC Act read with 109 of Indian Penal Code. A fine of ₹10,000 each was slapped on them apart from the jail terms, which will run concurrently.
Published – July 31, 2025 09:25 pm IST
