CORRUPT EE SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR IN JAIL

CORRUPT EE SENTENCED TO ONE YEAR IN JAIL

30-NOV-ENG 2

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

PATNA--------------------------The Bihar government's anti-corruption initiative has achieved another major success. Binay Kumar Singh, Executive Engineer and Senior Project Officer of the Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation, Division II, Patna, has been convicted by a special court in a case registered by the Vigilance Department and sentenced to one year's imprisonment.

Special Judge (Vigilance) Mohammad Rustam, in Special Case No. 80/2007 (Vigilance Police Station Case No. 119/2007), sentenced Binay Kumar Singh to one year of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of ₹40,000 under Sections 7 and 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PC Act). The court also ordered that if the fine is not paid, the accused will have to undergo an additional one month of simple imprisonment.

A total of 11 government witnesses were examined by the prosecution. This trap case was effectively prosecuted by Special Public Prosecutor (Vigilance) Vijay Bhanu, alias Puttu Babu.

The case dates back to October 24, 2007, when the Vigilance Investigation Bureau arrested the accused, Binay Kumar Singh, red-handed at the Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation, Division II office in Yarpur. He was caught accepting a bribe of ₹20,000 from complainant Harendra Singh—a partner of contractor Sudhir Kumar Singh—in exchange for bill payment.

This decision sends a strong message against corruption in the state and is considered an important step towards increasing transparency in government departments.