Retired railway clerk gets one year in jail for taking Rs 100 bribe in 1991
Lucknow, Feb 2: A special CBI court here on Thursday sentenced a retired 82-year-old railway clerk to one year imprisonment in a 32-year-old case for taking a bribe of Rs 100.
The court of special CBI judge Ajai Vikram Singh refused to show any leniency to the convict who was seeking lesser punishment on the ground of his old age, and observed that doing so would give a wrong message to the society.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the convict, Ram Narayan Verma.
Verma pleaded before the judge that the incident occurred 32 years ago and he had already spent two days in jail before being released on bail, earlier in the case. He pleaded that his punishment may be confined to the term already spent in jail so that he may not have to go to jail in order to serve the remaining sentence.
Refusing the plea, the judge said two days' imprisonment was not adequate in this case and one year imprisonment would serve the purpose of justice, in view of the amount of bribe, nature of offence and other factors.
A retired loco driver of Northern Railways, Ram Kumar Tiwari, had lodged FIR in the case with CBI in 1991. Tiwari in his FIR alleged that for the purpose of computing his pension, his medical test was required. Verma demanded Rs 150 bribe for the purpose. Later, he demanded Rs 100. CBI arrested Verma red-handed with the bribe amount.
The CBI filed charge sheet against Verma after completing the probe. The court framed charges on the accused on November 30, 2022.
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Atishi to be sworn in as Delhi chief minister on Saturday
New Delhi (PTI): Chief Minister-designate Atishi will be sworn in along with her new Council of Ministers during a ceremony at the Raj Niwas on Saturday afternoon that will see AAP form the government in Delhi for the fourth time in a row.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi will take the oath of office at 4.30 pm, officials have said.
The new Council of Ministers announced by the party comprises Sultanpur Majra MLA Mukesh Ahlawat, a new entrant, besides ministers Gopal Rai, Kailash Gahlot, Saurabh Bharadwaj and Imran Hussain.
Atishi will be the 17th female chief minister of the country.
The officials at the lieutenant governor's office on Friday evening said President Droupadi Murmu has appointed Atishi as the chief minister of Delhi from the date of her being sworn in and has also accepted Arvind Kejriwal's resignation.
The President has also cleared the appointment of five ministers, they added.
According to an AAP leader, the ceremony will be a low-key affair as the mood in the party is not upbeat because of Kejriwal's resignation and also the delays in approvals, leaving little time for preparations.
AAP MLAs met earlier this week and unanimously chose Atishi as the leader of the ruling legislature party.
The party's national convener Kejriwal walked out of the Tihar jail on September 13, after more than five months behind bars in an excise policy case.
In a surprise announcement two days later, Kejriwal said he would resign from the post of the chief minister of Delhi in the wake of the BJP's "mudslinging" against him over corruption.
Kejriwal also announced that he would return to the post only after getting a "certificate of honesty" from Delhi people in the assembly polls.
The tenure of the Atishi government will be brief as the assembly polls in Delhi are due in February next year.
Her government will have to fast-track and give nod to various pending policies and welfare schemes such as the Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana, Electric Vehicle Policy 2.0 and doorstep delivery of services among others.
In the outgoing Kejriwal government, Atishi held 13 portfolios, including finance, revenue, PWD, power and education.
Rai was in charge of the environment, development and general administration departments, while Bharadwaj looked after the health, tourism and urban development departments among others.
Gahlot held the responsibility of transport, home and women and child development departments, while Hussain was the minister for food and supplies.
AAP sources said the four ministers retained in the new Cabinet are likely to hold their previous portfolios while Ahlawat could be allotted those lying vacant following the resignation of minister Raaj Kumar Anand in April this year.
