JAMMU: The Special Judge Anti-Corruption, Jammu, on Saturday convicted five persons in a case related to the purchase of sub-standard microscopes at inflated rates by the School Education Department in 2004–05.
“The convicted include Jatinder Kumar (then AO, Directorate of School Education), Rameshwar Kumar Sharma (then Lecturer, SRML Hr. Secondary School), Balwan Singh (then Lecturer, SIE Jammu), Balbir Singh Jamwal (then CEO, Udhampur), and Jaswinder Singh Manocha, proprietor of M/s Cosmopolitan Traders,” reads a statement issued by ACB.
According to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) statement, the accused hatched a conspiracy to approve dissection microscopes in violation of the tender and made bulk purchases, causing financial loss to the State and gains to the supplier.
The court found them guilty under Section 5(1)(d) read with 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006, and Section 120-B of the RPC. All were sentenced to two years’ simple imprisonment under the corruption charges and one year for conspiracy, to run concurrently.
Each public servant was fined Rs 25,000, and the supplier Rs 1 lakh. Failure to pay will lead to three months’ additional simple imprisonment. (KNO)
