Income Tax Officer sentenced to 3 years Rigorous Imprisonment for taking Bribe

In two distinct CBI cases, the Designated Courts in Ahmedabad and Madurai today sentenced five offenders, including the then-Income Tax Officer (ITO), the then-inspector of Income Tax, and three private individuals, to three years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and a total fine of Rs. 1.70 lakh.

In the first case, the Special Judge for CBI cases in Ahmedabad sentenced Shri Mahesh Kantilal Sompura, then ITO, Ward-6(1), Ahmedabad, and Shri Mukesh Ramniklal Raval, then Inspector of Income Tax, Ward-6(1), Ahmedabad, to three years rigorous imprisonment and a total fine of Rs. 50,000 each for demanding and accepting bribes to settle the Income Tax Returns for Assessment Year 2009-10 in favour of the complainant.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered the instant case against the accused on August 19, 2011, based on a complaint. Both accused allegedly demanded an unlawful gratification of Rs.1,75,000 from the complainant in exchange for settling the scrutiny of his and his wife’s Income Tax Returns for the assessment year 2009-10. Following negotiations, the accused were caught red-handed collecting a bribe of Rs.50,000.

The CBI filed a chargesheet on September 26, 2011, following an inquiry. The Trial Court convicted the accused and sentenced them accordingly.

In the second case, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Madurai sentenced three private offenders to three years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and a total penalty of Rs.70,000 in a CBI case involving fraudulently obtaining a bank loan and failing to repay it.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed the case on July 24, 2014, against Sh. S.P.K. Selvam (Private Person) and others on allegations of fraudulently obtaining a loan from Indian Overseas Bank (IOB), Meenakshi College Branch, Madurai under the Swarna Jayanti Shahar Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) scheme between 2009 and 2012. It was also alleged that the borrower failed to repay the loan and the account became non-performing, resulting in a loss of Rs.29.98 lakh (approx.) to the bank.

Following an inquiry, the CBI filed a chargesheet against private individuals, including Sh. S.P.K. Selvam, Sh. C. Jagdeeswaran, Sh. S. Chinnaswamy, and Smt. K. Sathiya, for conspiracy, cheating, and forgery of documents, as well as using counterfeit documents as genuine.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Madurai convicted and sentenced Sh. S.P.K. Selvam to three years’ RI with a penalty of Rs. 50,000, as well as Sh. C. Jagdeeswaran and Smt. K. Sathiya to three years’ RI with a fine of Rs. 10,000 each. Sh. S. Chinnasamy died during trial, hence the allegations against him were dropped.