SRINAGAR: The Anti-Corruption Court in Baramulla has rejected the bail application of an accused Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) from the Public Works Department (PWD), currently under investigation for alleged bribery. The AEE was arrested after being caught red-handed while accepting a bribe from a contractor.
“There is prima facie evidence regarding involvement of the accused in the alleged offence. Other factors like character of evidence collected during investigation, nature and gravity of offence involved, minimum punishment prescribed for said offence,” the Court said as per Kashmir Dot Com adding, “Character, position and standing of accused, gravity of accusation and larger public interest – also heavily tilt against accused at this stage. The application of the accused has no merit and the same is therefore dismissed.”
While rejecting the bail, the court considered this case to be one of “Jabrana” (forcible demand) rather than “Nazrana” (gift) or “Shukrana” (gratitude).
Earlier, the AEE was earlier arrested by ACB following a formal complaint lodged by a contractor, who reported that the accused had demanded a 2% commission to process a pending bill for payment.
“Under these circumstances, the complainant approached P/S ACB Baramulla with a written complaint and requested legal action against the accused for demanding commission,” the ACB had said.
ACB said that following the investigation, a case was registered under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018).
“During investigation, the accused was caught red-handed while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 25,000 from the contractor at the PWD (R&B) office in Sopore, District Baramulla,” the ACB said.
Recently ACB has registered a lot of cases against corrupt public servants and many were also caught red handed while demanding and accepting bribe.
General public has appreciated the pro-active approach of the ACB in dealing with complaints of corruption for which ACB has launched its helpline and separate portal for registration of complaints/grievances.
