A Special Court in Chennai convicted and sentenced a Junior Engineer in the Greater Chennai Corporation to five years of imprisonment for demanding a bribe of ₹10,000. Image used for representational purposes
| Photo Credit: C. Venkatachalapathy
A Special Court in Chennai convicted and sentenced a Junior Engineer in Division-182 of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) — who is currently under suspension — to five years of imprisonment for demanding a bribe of ₹10,000.
According to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), the complainant R. Murthy, of Thiruvaimur, was allotted a plot for a house in the name of his wife R. Manjula’s by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board, and in that land, he had constructed a building with ground and first floors in 1988. He built a second floor later, and third and fourth floors in 2011 after payment of revised tax to the Chennai Corporation.
A.R. Viswanathan, who was then Assistant Engineer, Division-182, informed Murthy through his staff to meet him at his office. Accordingly, on January 10, 2012, Murthy met Viswanathan, and the latter demanded illegal gratification of ₹5,000 for each floor totalling ₹20,000 as a motive or reward to prevent him from taking action against the “unauthorised construction” raised by Murthy.
Viswanathan insisted that Murthy pay ₹10,000 as the first instalment within a fortnight and to pay the remaining later.
Murthy, unwilling to pay the bribe, lodged a complaint with the DVAC, based on which a case was registered against Viswanathan.
On January 24, 2012, Viswanathan reiterated his previous demand and accepted ₹10,000 from the complainant. While receiving the bribe amount, the accused was caught red-handed and remanded to judicial custody.
After the completion of the trial, the Special Judge for DVAC cases on Thursday (November 7, 2024) convicted Viswanathan and sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for five years besides imposing a fine of ₹1 lakh on him.
Viswanathan was taken to the Central Prison in Puzhal.
Published – November 08, 2024 04:09 pm IST