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| Anticorruption Court awards 1-year imprisonment to Patwari | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 15: Special Judge Anti-corruption Court, Jammu, Tahir Khurshid Raina, on Saturday awarded one year imprisonment to a Patwari for indulging in corruption.
Accused Patwari Mohammad Sharief was convicted in a trap case in case FIR No. 17/2016, P/S VOJ (Now ACB) Jammu, for commission of offences under Secs-4 A and 5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Svt. 2006.
The prosecution case against the accused Patwari was that one Narain Singh approached him for issuance of an attested copy of mutation of the land in village Surinsar which was purchased by him for construction of the house. He took Rs 9000/- from him in the name of fees and told him that he would get the same after sometime. Thereafter, he repeatedly met him but the said Patwari did not issue him the desired Revenue document.
Later the Patwari told him to pay Rs. 4000/- more to get the same. The complainant approached Vigilance Organization Jammu. After conducting the preliminary verification, a trap team with two independent witnesses was constituted by the SSP Vigilance and sent to Surinsar along with the complainant. The complainant met the accused Patwari at the fixed time and spot. The bribe money was exchanged. As the bribe money was exchanged, the shadow independent witness gave a pre-fixed signal to the trap team which rushed to the spot and caught the accused red-handed. The bribe amount, which was already dusted with phenolphthalein powder, was recovered from the packet of the accused. He was subjected to hand wash and pocket wash which tested positive for the P-powder test. The investigation in the case finally culminated into the charge-sheet filed in the said court and charge was framed and trial commenced in the case. Finally, the court convicted the accused and awarded a sentence of one year imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 10,000/- to the accused for commission of offences under Sec. 4-A, Prevention of Corruption Act, Svt. 2006.
Similar sentence was awarded to the accused for commission of offence U/Sec. 5(1)(d) of the said Act. Both the sentences run concurrently. However, while awarding the sentence, the court took serious note of the menace of corruption and conveyed its concern to the society at large which is as under: “The mandate of the law is that punishment must commensurate to the gravity of the offence committed. Neither it looks to be a persecution of the convict by the court, nor to be so brief as to be a jest. So a fine balance is required to be struck between the two. I am conscious of the fact that mere prescribing of punishment in the statute book is no deterrence to the criminals, nor its severity, rather the certainty of the punishment to be awarded matters the most. So once an accused stands convicted, the punishment must follow and the destined abode of the convict must be jail, to give a clear and bold message that whosoever breaks the law, the law will take its own course.”
“The accused stands convicted for the offence of misconduct as defined under the PC Act 2006. He is a public servant having the official status of a Patwari. The Patwari in the Revenue Department holds a key position so far as the field work is concerned. He is the first face of the Revenue Department in the society who is exposed to the people at large. The commoners or the influential, rich or the poor of the society, have one way or the other to meet him to regulate their revenue entries in context of their landed property etc, and for issuing of important revenue documents from him which have to be initially reported by him. He is a village accountant responsible to the government for maintaining land records, collecting taxes, measuring the land and ground records of the crops/grass in a region. In short, he is the repository of many revenue details and documents on account of which he has a lot of public duties to perform. In this context, it is quite imperative on him to be very fair, just, accessible, available, humble and ready to help. If he behaves arrogantly and moves with the move of illegal money from the pocket of the applicant to his pocket, then the revenue system will collapse and people at large will feel frustrated,” the Judge stated.
"Unless citizens in general and government servants in particular, are taught to develop a mindset which is averse to and ashamed of corruption, it will not be possible to curb the menace of corruption. Continuous education to create awareness about ethical values in life, therefore, can play a pivotal role in the fight against corruption. Even the famous golden words of the architect of the Constitution, Dr. Amebadar, are much pertinent to be quoted here. The purpose of education is to moralize and civilize the people". (JNF) |
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