Army officer sentenced to 10-year rigorous imprisonment in bribery case

The court also sentenced assistant garrison engineer rank official to five-year jail term in the case.

A special CBI court here has sentenced a Lt Colonel to 10-year rigorous imprisonment in a five-year-old bribery case.

The court also sentenced assistant garrison engineer rank official Manish Singh to five-year jail term in the case.

While delivering judgement in the matter on Monday, CBI judge Sujata Singh imposed a fine of ₹55,000 on Lt. Col. Bharat Joshi while Manish Singh was fined ₹15,000. Lt. Colonel Joshi, who was at that time working as a garrison engineer in the Military Engineering Services, demanding a bribe of ₹38,000 from a contractor for clearing his bills.

His deputy Manish Singh, who was working as an assistant garrison engineer at the time was convicted of mounting pressure on the contractor to pay the amount to Lt. Col. Joshi in one go. The contractor who wanted a completion certificate from the army officer for a two-storey building in the Instrument Research and Development Establishment campus paid him ₹10,000 as the first instalment of the bribe. At the same time, the contractor also lodged a case with the CBI against Lt. Col. Joshi and his deputy.

The investigation agency laid a trap for the duo and arrested them when they were taking the second instalment of the bribe from the complainant, according to prosecution lawyer Satish Garg said.