While saying that corruption deserves no sympathy and leniency, Dr Sushil Kumar Garg, Special Judge, CBI Court, awarded four-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) to Dr Rajiv Jassi, former medical officer of the District Jail, Ropar, in a six-year-old bribery case. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on the convict.
The court has earlier held the accused guilty of committing the offence punishable under Sections 7 and 13 (2) read with Section 13 (1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The court has acquitted another accused, Satnam Singh, in the case.
Dr Rajiv Jassi was arrested in 2014 for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs4,000 from a woman whose son, Sandeep, was lodged in the Ropar jail in a criminal case.
Sandeep’s mother Dolly Rani filed a complaint before the CBI. In her complaint, Dolly alleged that when she met her son at the Mohali court during a case hearing, he told her to request Dr Jassi to refer him to the PGI for treatment. However, as per allegations, Dr Jassi sought a bribe of ₹5,000 from her to refer her son to the PGI. The deal was allegedly struck for Rs4,000.
Following the complaint, a trap was laid in Sector 40, Chandigarh, where the accused had called Dolly Rani with the money. The accused was in a cab, along with driver Satnam Singh. The CBI caught them while accepting a bribe of Rs4,000 from Dolly Rani. The CBI Court framed corruption charges against the medical officer in 2015.
While the counsel of the accused prayed for leniency, public prosecutor KP Singh argued for harsher punishment for the accused. After hearing the arguments, the court said “accused Dr Rajiv Jassi was working as a medical officer in the District Jail, Ropar. He had received illegal gratification of Rs4000 for referring the complainant’s son to the PGI. Therefore, while imposing sentence to the convict in this type of corruption cases, the court should not show leniency. When such a medical officer does not act with integrity, the entire society will suffer. Corruption deserves no sympathy and leniency.”
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