Army officer convicted of corruption after 27 years of trial

BS Guraya, who was posted in the General Staff (Engg) department at the western command headquarters, was booked under corruption charges in 1990 for amassing assets worth Rs 90 lakh.

After 27 years of investigation and trial, a former army colonel has been convicted by a special CBI court in Chandigarh for amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, an official said.

An Indian Army jawan patrolling at the Line of Control (LOC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.(PTI file for representation)

BS Guraya, who was posted in the General Staff (Engg) department at the western command headquarters, was booked under corruption charges on August 6, 1990 for amassing assets worth Rs 90 lakh, a CBI spokesperson said here.

The spokesperson said Guraya has been sentenced by the trial court to five years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

The court also ordered confiscation of Guraya’s properties worth Rs 66.94 lakh, he said. Although the CBI filed charge sheet in 1993, the charges were framed five years later in 1998.

“The accused filed a petition in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh, challenging the framing of charges. On September 29, 1998, the petition was dismissed by the High Court,” the CBI Spokesperson said.

The officer then approached the Supreme Court against the orders of the High Court.

The regular trial of the case started in May, 2009. During the course of the trial, the prosecution examined 66 witnesses while the defence 76.