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2013 graft case: Former income tax officer gets four year rigorous imprisonment in Chandigarh
Former income tax officer Rakesh Jain was held in a 2013 graft case of ₹50,000
Day after a former income tax (IT) officer, Rakesh Jain, was held in a 2013 graft case of ₹50,000, a special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) awarded rigorous imprisonment of four years to him on Thursday.
Jain was posted at the IT department’s Chandigarh branch.
Special CBI judge Sushil Kumar Garg has also imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on Jain, who was convicted under Sections 7 and 13 (2) (read with13 (1) (d)) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
THE CASE
On February 6, 2013, Rakesh was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹50,000 from a local businessman in Sector 20. His mother Kanta Jain was also an accused in the case, however, she died during the trial.
The trap to catch Rakesh was laid on the basis of a complaint filed by one Ashok Arora of Sector 20. Arora, who has a real-estate firm in Sector 22, was served a notice by the IT department. He met Rakesh, who offered to sort out the matter for him in exchange of ₹3.5 lakh and a deal was finalised at ₹2.5 lakh.
Following this, Arora approached the CBI and a trap was laid following which Jain was booked. Two gold bricks (1kg each) worth ₹60 lakh, documents pertaining to investment in shares amounting to ₹60 lakh among other items were recovered from his residence. The CBI had also recovered a brick of gold weighing 1kg, gold coins and jewellery weighing 500gm worth ₹15 lakh from Rakesh’s lockers in the Bank of Baroda and the State Bank of Patiala.
In the court, Jain pleaded leniency, saying that one of his sons is suffering from brain seizure, his health is deteriorating day-by-day and he (Rakesh Jain) is the sole bread earner of his family.
Meanwhile, public prosecutor KP Singh argued that to check corruption, exemplary punishment to a government servant is the need of the hour. Rejecting Jain’s plea of leniency, the court ordered, “His (Jain’s) request on this ground is not acceptable because it is the duty of every citizen to secure the strong financial health of the country.”
The order mentioned that Jain had instructed the complainant to put the bribe money on top of a window AC. Thereafter, he lifted the same by wearing hand gloves and handed over the bribe money to his mother, it said. “Consequently, the bribe money had been recovered from the undergarments worn by the mother of the accused,” the judgment read.
Another case of money laundering against him and his wife Suneet Jain is also going on in the court of district and sessions judge.
