A special court here has convicted a customs staffer and his retired colleague in a corruption case and sentenced them to one year of simple imprisonment.
Special (CBI) judge Amit M Shete found the accused, Sandip Vishnu Pawar and Sadanand Babu Keer, guilty of charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 each on them. The court also acquitted another customs employee, Ranjana Anacleto Nunus, of all charges in the case. Special public prosecutor Om Prakash Chauhan informed the court that the complainant, who is a fisherman, had applied for a free annual fishing pass with the customs office at Devtalao in Uttan.
In August 2006, Pawar demanded Rs 500 for issuing the pass. The fisherman approached the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with a complaint, based on which the matter was probed and a chargesheet was filed.
The judge, in the order dated December 4, noted that while the offence was punishable with imprisonment and a fine, the trial had been pending since 2007. Hence, a lenient view needs to be taken, as one of the accused was retired, and the other was on the verge of retirement.
