Additional district and sessions judge Preeti Sahni here on Thursday acquitted former UT chief engineer KK Jerath and eight others in a corruption case registered against them on October 26, 1998.
Jerath, Jagdish Mittal, then UT superintending engineer (electrical), BR Madan and Sadhu Singh (both executive engineers at that time), the then UT sub-divisional officers OP Arora, Paramjeet, AK Gupta and SC Aggarwal, and Yash Pal Saggi, a contractor, were acquitted as the allegations against them could not be proved.
The vigilance bureau had booked the nine men for allegedly favouring Saggi in the allotment of a project at Government Medical College and Hospital in Sector 32. The prosecution had claimed that the officials had caused a Rs 25-lakh loss to the UT in allocation of 25 contracts.
After the acquittal, advocate Terminder Singh, the defence counsel for Jerath, said, “Jerath was falsely implicated at the behest of the then UT home secretary, Anuradha Gupta, who is the complainant in the case, because of a rift between them.” He said 36 witnesses were examined during the course of the case, following which Jerath was acquitted.
Jerath had joined the Chandigarh administration as a sub-divisional engineer (electrical) on June 26, 1968. Thereafter, he worked in different capacities and was promoted to the post of superintending engineer (electrical) on February 17, 1987, and as chief engineer on October 26, 1994. Jerath has been convicted in one graft case, acquitted in four others, while two other cases are pending in court.
{{/usCountry}}Jerath had joined the Chandigarh administration as a sub-divisional engineer (electrical) on June 26, 1968. Thereafter, he worked in different capacities and was promoted to the post of superintending engineer (electrical) on February 17, 1987, and as chief engineer on October 26, 1994. Jerath has been convicted in one graft case, acquitted in four others, while two other cases are pending in court.
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