Principal awarded RI, fined in 15-year-old bribery case

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

Former Principal Vinayak Rayappa Kattimani was on Friday (15 May) sentenced by CBI Special Court Judge Sanjay K. Kulkarni to one year of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and fined Rs 30,000 under various provisions for accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000 to approve a furniture bill at the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Nanded. The sentence has been delivered nearly 15 years after the case was registered in 2011.

What was the case?

Vinayak Kattimani, the then acting principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Nanded, had allegedly demanded a bribe from furniture supplier Gaus Khan Aziz Khan Abdullah Khan for clearing a pending bill. The contractor had supplied tables and chairs to the school in October 2011, for which a bill of approximately Rs 43,000 remained unpaid.

Kattimani initially demanded a bribe of Rs 4,500 for approving the bill, but after negotiations, the amount was settled at Rs 4,000. The contractor subsequently lodged a complaint with the CBI.

Acting on the complaint, the Nagpur unit of the CBI laid a trap and caught Kattimani red-handed while accepting the bribe. The CBI’s anti-corruption branch registered the offence on November 24, 2011.

Trial and sentence

On December 20, 2014, the court framed charges against the accused under Section 7 and Section 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The trial thereafter continued for several years.

During the hearing, CBI Special Public Prosecutor Arvind Kumar examined witnesses and presented evidence before the court. Following the conclusion of the trial, the special court convicted Kattimani.

The court sentenced the accused to six months of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 20,000 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Besides, under Section 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2), he was sentenced to one year of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000.