Charges framed against two suspended Chandigarh MC officials in ₹1 lakh bribe case
In the hearing held on Thursday, the defence counsel had argued that Dhankar had filed an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana high court, which is pending adjudication; but the court observed that there was no stay from the high court and there was no ground to adjourn the case for hearing
A special CBI court has framed charges against suspended municipal corporation (MC) chief sanitary inspector Chander Mohan and health supervisor Sandeep Dhankar for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹1 lakh in 2023.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested Mohan and Dhankar on August 10, 2023, for seeking the bribe for reinstating a sacked employee.
In the hearing held on Thursday, the defence counsel had argued that Dhankar had filed an appeal in the Punjab and Haryana high court, which is pending adjudication. But the court observed that there was no stay from the high court and there was no ground to adjourn the case for hearing.
The court of special CBI judge Alka Malik further observed that on perusal of final report of investigation and the documents on record, a prima facie case for commission of offences punishable under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act was made out against both the accused. The accused were also served with the chargesheet to which they pleaded not guilty and demanded trial.
Trial to begin in Jan 2025
The trial will commence on January 13, 2025. Former Chandigarh MC commissioner Anindita Mitra has been summoned on the first day.
The CBI trap was laid following the complaint of Jitender Kumar, a resident of Ram Darbar, who was recently ousted from the department. Mohan had allegedly sought ₹2.5 lakh for reinstating him. Later, Mohan told Kumar to pay minimum ₹2 lakh as Dhankar had demanded ₹4 lakh to reinstate him. As Kumar did not want to give money, he lodged a complaint with CBI on August 7, 2023. Mohan agreed to accept ₹1 lakh as first instalment on August 8.
In his complaint to CBI, Kumar stated that on April 23, he met with an accident, following which he could not attend office and because of his absence, Dhankar had terminated his services. The complaint stated that on July 18, Mohan talked to him via WhatsApp call and sought ₹2.5 lakh for reinstating him. Mohan further told Kumar that he had requested Dhankar to allow him to join work for three months and if he does not pay up fully, Dhankar may remove him again.
Following the arrest, the two MC officials were suspended on August 10.