E-Paper
Substandard rice: 9 FCI officials among 17 convicted in 2 graft cases
Special CBI judge Baljinder Singh Sra sentenced the convicts to rigorous imprisonment ranging from six months to three years and imposed fines of ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 on each of them
A special CBI court on Saturday convicted 17 accused, including nine Food Corporation of India (FCI) officials and eight rice millers, in two separate corruption cases related to the acceptance of substandard rice during the 2004-05 kharif procurement season.
Special CBI judge Baljinder Singh Sra sentenced the convicts to rigorous imprisonment ranging from six months to three years and imposed fines of ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 on each of them. The case was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The detailed judgments in both cases are awaited.
The two cases pertained to procurement centres at Nihal Singh Wala and Muktsar under the FCI district office, Faridkot, where officials were accused of accepting poor-quality rice from private millers and recording it as meeting prescribed standards.
The court convicted the accused under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
According to the prosecution, FCI officials — from the rank of district manager to technical assistants — and private rice millers allegedly entered into a conspiracy to facilitate the acceptance of substandard rice, resulting in wrongful loss to the public exchequer.
CBI public prosecutor Anmol Narang said the court convicted the accused after examining the evidence placed before it.
The convictions came on the same day the court also pronounced judgment in another case related to procurement irregularities at the FCI depot in Moga, in which officials and rice millers were convicted.
