New Delhi: A Delhi court has awarded seven years jail term to two MCD officials and also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on them for misappropriating over Rs 15 lakh by showing disbursement of wages to about 800 “ghost labour” in muster rolls, saying graft was like “a hydra-headed monster” eating into the vitals of the nation.
Both the convicts had through their counsel moved a plea seeking leniency but the court dismissed their plea saying that their moral obligation was to serve the country with utmost honesty and instead they served themselves by indulging in corrupt practices and siphoned off public money. Special Judge Hemani Malhotra awarded seven-year rigorous imprisonment to then junior engineer Agnesh Verma and then assistant engineer Tara Chand for offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust by public servants under the IPC and criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
“The convicts in this case, in utter disregard of public duty introduced ghost labour in the muster rolls and misappropriated/ pocketed lakhs of rupees belonging to the Conservancy and Sanitation Engineering (CSE) Department, Shahadara (North), MCD by showing disbursement of wages to those ghost labour in the muster rolls,” the court said.
It also observed that corruption was a “hydra-headed monster” which was “eating into vitals of the country”. “It is the strongest force which is pulling us down and if we do not eradicate corruption from our system, it will not only swallow us but also push our country to oblivion and a point of no return.
“The public servants have a moral obligation to serve the country and its citizens with utmost honesty. The convicts in the instant case, instead served themselves by indulging in corrupt practices over a series of transactions over a period of three months by introducing ghost labour in the muster rolls, thereby siphoning off public money,” the court said.
It said the quantum of money misappropriated was not material or germane and that it was not a routine general case of corruption where a public servant was held guilty of taking bribe for a particular act from a victim. Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava sought stringent punishment for the convicts, saying that to curb such offences.
