A special court sentenced a 63-year-old Shivaji Ghag to jail for three years for taking a bribe of 2,500 rupees. The court was hearing a case that dated back to 2015, when Ghag worked as an agent at the electricity office that was in Chembur, Mumbai. He took a bribe to help someone get a wireman’s licence. Ghag was not a government officer, but he said to the wireman that he was a middleman and demanded Rs 5,000 from him. Ghag asked to pay him Rs 2,500 before getting the licence and Rs 2,500 after getting the licence. But the official charge or fee to get a licence was just Rs 200. The man reported this incident to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
After learning about this, ACB laid a trap to catch Ghag. He was caught red-handed by the officials on September 29, 2015, as per the Times of India report. He was out on bail during the trial of this case. But now the court has found him guilty. He was charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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Ghag is suffering from brain cancer. The court said that corruption should be dealt with strictly, but also considered Ghag’s age and health conditions while sentencing him, as per TOI’s report. Special Judge S.E. Bangar was hearing this case. He said, “Supreme Court ruling that allows private individuals to be punished under the corruption law, even if no government officer is formally charged.” This implies that agents who commit fraud in transactions involving public services, such as Ghag, may face consequences.
Prabhakar Tarange, the special public prosecutor, asked for a severe sentence, pointing out that these operatives frequently assist public officials in accepting bribes and that this behaviour is becoming more widespread. He said that a severe penalty would contribute in deterring similar conduct in the future. Ghag has challenged the court's ruling. Ghag must pay the Rs 50,000 fine in the interim, but the judge has permitted the penalty to be postponed until the appeal is heard.