Ludhiana court awards sentence to 17 in 2012 above poverty line wheat fraud

Nearly 14 years after the case was registered, convicts get 4-5 years in jail. Fraud involved forged gate passes and illegal sale of wheat to private mills; court calls it a planned conspiracy

A Ludhiana court on Wednesday sentenced 17 people in the 2012 above poverty line (APL) wheat scam, nearly 14 years after the case was registered. Special judge Amrinder Singh Shergill had declared them guilty on March 23.

Judge`s gavel and law books.constitutional crisis (HT File)

Of the 30 accused in the case, 17 were convicted, six acquitted, five died during the trial, one was declared a proclaimed offender and charges against one were dropped. Among those convicted, 13 received five-year jail terms, while four were sentenced to four years. Most of the convicts were depot holders, along with a flour mill owner and a private firm owner.

The scam came to light when the Punjab Vigilance Bureau registered the case on September 1, 2012. Investigations revealed that over 1,100 bags of wheat, meant for public distribution, were illegally sold to private flour mills.

The wheat, loaded from a Punjab Agro godown in Machhiwara, was intended for the government agency PUNGRAIN, which later clarified it had no connection with the seized trucks.

Probes found that certain officials and private individuals conspired to divert the wheat using forged gate passes for personal gain instead of distributing it to eligible families. The court observed that the accused acted in a planned and deliberate conspiracy, causing substantial financial loss to the government.

The APL wheat scheme was designed to provide subsidised wheat to families above the poverty line who still required support under the public distribution system (PDS).

The convictions mark a significant step in concluding a long-pending case that exposed corruption in the distribution of essential commodities.