Thane, Mar 31 A special CBI court in Thane has sentenced a former Income Tax officer to six months' rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a 19-year-old case of taking a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a person to finalise a tax security assessment.
Special Judge (CBI) D S Deshmukh also imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 on the accused, Deenanath Krishna Puthran (77), in the order on March 27, following a trial that lasted more than 18 years.
A Chartered Accountant and a tax assistant accused in the case were acquitted due to a lack of direct evidence.
The case dates back to 2007, when Puthran served as an Income Tax officer at Vashi in Navi Mumbai.
Samraj Naikar, Managing Director of M/s Shree Laxmi Electricals and Consultants Pvt Ltd, lodged a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) Anti-Corruption Bureau, alleging that Puthran was harassing him and demanding Rs 40,000 to finalise the scrutiny of his company's tax files and those of his wife.
On January 3, 2007, a CBI team caught Puthran after he accepted a negotiated sum of Rs 20,000. The probe agency also charged CA Jayant Dattatray Adhyapak for alleged abetment and then tax assistant Prakash Gunaji Nevrekar for allegedly accepting an additional Rs 1,000.
The complainant had alleged that Puthran initially demanded a bribe of Rs 50,000 and later it was negotiated to Rs 40,000, as per the court order.
The prosecution has successfully established the allegation against the accused of demand for illegal gratification of Rs 20,000 and acceptance thereof from the complainant by abusing his position as a public servant, the judge said.
During cross-examination, the complainant admitted that while submitting his written complaint to the CBI, he had not made any contentions about abetment by the other accused, the court said while acquitting Adhyapak and Nevrekar.
