Six BHEL officials get jail in graft case

A Delhi court has ordered six officials of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and a contractor to be jailed for making an excess payment of Rs. 2,85,866 in a fraudulent manner to the contractor for transporting and fixing ceiling fans at a dispensary in Noida in 1990. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had charge-sheeted nine BHEL officials. However, two of them were discharged at the time of the framing of charges in 2005, while one died during the trial. Special Judge Jitendra Kumar Mishra at the Karkardooma district courts convicted and sentenced the accused not only for indulging in corrupt practices but also for cheating, forgery, using forged documents as genuine and criminal conspiracy. The charge sheet alleged that for fixing 242 fans at the BHEL’s dispensary, the public sector company officials dishonestly and fraudulently paid an excess amount of Rs. 28,58,66.78. “The case of the prosecution stands proved beyond any reasonable doubt. Nothing could be pointed out by the defence regarding doubt towards the case of the prosecution,’’ the Judge said, holding them guilty of the offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court sentenced Deputy General Manager V. C. Ramulu, Senior Manager Denis Barnabas and Deputy Manager O. P. Sharma to five years of imprisonment and imposed fines of Rs.5 lakh each on them. Senior Engineer P. L. Khadala was sentenced to four years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 3 lakh. The court was lenient towards him keeping in view that at the time of commission of the crime he had just joined BHEL and was merely a junior engineer. Engineer P. C. M. Jhammnan and Anil Kumar Goel were also awarded five years imprisonment and fined Rs. 5 lakh each, while Assistant Foreman S. N. Jha was awarded three-and-a-half years of sentence and fined Rs. 2 lakh. He got the least period in jail as the court took into account the fact that he was simply a foreman and had no role in policy decision. ref: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/six-bhel-officials-get-jail-in-graft-case/article7663270.ece