Ujjain: In a corruption case, the Special Court sentenced Dharmendra Joshi, the then secretary, Gram Panchayat Padlia, to four years rigorous imprisonment (RI) under two sections and also imposed a penalty of Rs 2, 000 on him.
In the crime number 53/2017 of the Special Police Establishment Lok Ayukta Ujjain ADJ Pankaj Chaturvedi ordered to punish Dharmendra Joshi, secretary, Gram Panchayat Padlia, tehsil Mahidpur with four years of RI under Section 7 and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and a total penalty of two thousand rupees was imposed under both the sections.
On March 25, 2017, the complainant Suraj Suryavanshi, resident of village Padlia had filed a complaint to Superintendent of Police Lok Ayukta Ujjain that the said secretary was seeking Rs 2,000 as bribe from him for the issuance of identity cards under Madhya Pradesh Bhawan and Other Construction Works Welfare Board. A clear demand of Rs 1,000 bribe was made by the accused Dharmendra Joshi when the complainant recorded his voice.
The accused Dharmendra Joshi was arrested for taking Rs 1,000 as bribe from complainant Suraj Suryavanshi at Dussehra Maidan, Mahidpur on March 27 by the then inspector Kamal Nigwal. At the time of the trap, the bribe money was recovered from the pocket of the accused Dharmendra Joshi. On the spot, the colour of the solution turned pink when the hand of accused was washed with a special chemical. The chemical test by FSL also held the accused as guilty.
The case was investigated by inspector Basant Shrivastava. The charge sheet against the accused was submitted to the court on March 22, 2018 when the offence was found to be substantiated. After the trial, the accused was convicted by the judge and sent to Bhairavgarh jail. The prosecution was conducted in the case by special public prosecutor Manoj Kumar Pathak (DPO) on behalf of the Lok Ayukta organisation.
