A law officer of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and a Tis Hazari court staffer are in jail for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe to “help” a West Delhi man to obtain a stay on the demolition of his property by the civic body. A judge rejected the law officer’s plea for bail on Saturday.
The story began on September 29, when MCD officials seized the property of one Rakesh Aggarwal, a resident of Uttam Nagar.
On October 15, Aggarwal went to the MCD Appellate Tribunal at the Tis Hazari courts complex to file an application for de-sealing of his property, and in the hope of obtaining a stay order against demolition.
At Tis Hazari, Aggarwal met Vikas Bharti, an ahlmad of the court, and Renu Soni, Junior Law Officer, MCD, who allegedly told him that they could “help” him get a stay in return for Rs 1 lakh. However, failure to pay the bribe would result in an adverse order, they allegedly told Aggarwal.
The following day, Aggarwal registered a complaint against Bharti and Soni with the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which laid a trap for the duo.
Bharti was caught “red handed” accepting a bribe of Rs 60,000 from Aggarwal, and the bribe money was allegedly recovered from his possession. Bharti and Soni were arrested, and were sent to Tihar jail until October 27.
Soon after the arrests, Soni moved a plea for interim bail on the ground that her infant child is dependent on breastfeeding. Special Judge Sanjay Jindal of Rouse Avenue Court rejected the plea on October 18. The bail plea of Bharti, the ahlmad, will be heard when the court reopens after the Diwali break.
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Judge Jindal noted that the ahlmad “was caught red handed while demanding and accepting illegal gratification of Rs 60,000 from the complainant”, and therefore, “I am of the considered view that there are no sufficient grounds for grant of interim bail to the applicant Renu Soni.”
The order said that “There are other family members to look after the children”, and “The issues raised by the applicant can be considered in better manner after obtaining a formal response/ reply from the CBI who has also to verify the facts mentioned in the present application by the applicant”.
According to the CBI’s FIR, “The allegations mentioned in the complaint were verified in the presence of independent witness Sh. Balram, MTS, Office of Executive Engineer, CD-14, CPWD, East Block-4, RK Puram, Sector-01, New Delhi”.
“During the verification, it has been, prima facie, revealed that the suspects, in connivance with each other, demanded a bribe of Rs. 60,000/- from the complainant on the pretext of providing undue favor in obtaining a stay order against the demolition of his property,” the FIR states.
