Rigorous prison term for official held on bribery charge

The Kottayam Vigilance Court on Saturday sentenced a former Assistant Engineer of the Kottayam municipality’s Kumaranalloor Zonal Office to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for demanding a bribe of ₹15,000 for issuing building permit.

Delivering the verdict, Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance) K.V. Rejanish sentenced the accused, Martin Antony, to three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹50,000 and an additional four years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹1 lakh under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

In case of default in payment of fine, the court ordered that the convict must undergo an additional three months of imprisonment.

As the complainant had passed away before the trial began, the prosecution relied on other direct and circumstantial evidence to establish the offence.