Assistant Revenue Officer Lingaiah had demanded Rs 3 lakh for transferring khata of site in Bengaluru North
Assistant Revenue Officer Lingaiah had demanded Rs 3 lakh for transferring khata of site in Bengaluru North
BENGALURU:
In an eye-opener to the continuing corruption within BBMP, a city court has sentenced Assistant Revenue Officer C Lingaiah to rigorous imprisonment for 4 years and fined the ARO a sum of Rs 3 lakh on conviction of a charge of demanding a bribe of Rs 3 lakh for a khata transfer.
The XXIII Additional City Civil and Session Court’s special judge (CCH No 24) pronounced the judgement on Lingaiah (known in BBMP circles as ‘Hitech’ Lingaiah) on August 30. The order, a copy of which is with TheBengaluruLive, reads: “Accused No 1 (Lingaiah) is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years and to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh for the offence punishable under section 7 of the PC Act, and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of four years and to pay a fine of Rs 2 lakh for the offence punishable under section 13(1)(d) read with 13(2) of the PC Act.”
The order continues: “In default of payment of a total fine of Rs 3 lakh, he shall undergo simple imprisonment for a further period of four months. Both the substantive sentences of imprisonment shall run concurrently. Acting under section 428 of the Code, the period of detention undergone by the accused during investigation from 28-03-17 to 04-04-2017 shall be set off against the sentence of imprisonment.”
Another official acquitted
In the same case, the court acquitted accused No 2 Nandeesh M, who was working as Revenue Inspector in ward 44 (Marappanapalya), in the office of the Revenue Officer.
As per the judgement copy, Lingaiah was working as ARO in the Rajajinagar sub-division and was in charge of Mahalakshmipuram sub-division. He had demanded Rs 3 lakh from a person for a khata transfer in the name of Ganesh Reddy N. The complainant was the owner of a vacant site situated at Jarakbande Kaval village, Bengaluru North taluk, which he claimed to have acquired through a registered gift deed dated 08-9-2016 executed by his father Nagaraju N.
Nabbed by ACB
After negotiation, the accused reduced the bribe amount to Rs 2.5 lakh and directed the complainant to pay Rs 1 lakh in advance and the balance after the change of khata to the name of Ganesh Reddy. The complainant recorded the conversation with Lingaiah on his mobile phone and approached the ACB. Subsequently, in March 2017, the accused was caught red-handed by ACB officials while accepting an advance of Rs 1 lakh. After completion of the investigation, the ACB secured prosecution sanction from the competent authority and filed a chargesheet against the accused.
XXIII Additional City Civil and Sessions Judge Lakshminarayana Bhat K pronounced the sentence while Special Public Prosecutor Santosh S Nagarale argued the case for the ACB.
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