Latur: A special court in Latur has convicted two government officials in a bribery case registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Latur. The judgment was delivered on Wednesday by Additional District and Sessions Judge RR Bhosale.
The case was registered at Shivajinagar Police Station under Sections 7, 12, and 13(1)(d), read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The convicted accused have been identified as Balaji Vitthalrao Kale (35), then Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies (Dairy), Latur (Class II officer), and Suresh Raghoba Mali (57), a junior clerk at the District Dairy Development Office, Latur (Class III employee).
According to the prosecution, the accused had demanded a bribe of ₹5,000 from the complainant to approve a proposal related to a fisheries business. The bribe amount was accepted by the accused Mali on the instructions of Kale.
The court sentenced Kale to two years and six months of simple imprisonment and a fine of ₹15,000 under Section 7 of the Act. Additionally, he was awarded three years of simple imprisonment and a fine of ₹10,000 under Section 13(2). Co-accused Mali was sentenced to two years of simple imprisonment and fined ₹7,500 under Section 12 of the Act.
The investigation was conducted by then Police Inspector JR Bhandarwar of ACB Latur. The case was pursued in court by Police Inspector Jagdish Raut, while Assistant Public Prosecutor Ramakant P Chavan represented the prosecution.
