Kottayam (Kerala), Nov 29 (PTI) A court here on Saturday sentenced a man to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for accepting a bribe to grant a building permit.
Kottayam Vigilance Court judge KV Rajanish sentenced Martin Antony, a former Assistant Engineer at the Kumaranalloor Zonal Office of Kottayam Municipality and currently serving in Budhanoor Grama Panchayat, to seven years rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakhs.
He was found guilty under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act for accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000 in 2014.
According to the prosecution, the complainant had applied for a permit to construct a hotel building on his land at Neelimangalam in Kumaranalloor.
Initially, the application was submitted to the Kumaranalloor Grama Panchayat, which was later merged with the Kottayam Municipality, and the file was subsequently transferred there, officials said.
Antony, who was handling the file at the Kumaranalloor Zonal Office, allegedly demanded Rs 15,000 from the complainant for clearing the permit file.
He was caught red-handed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) while accepting the bribe, officials said.
Antony was remanded to the Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail.
Public Prosecutor K K Sreekanth appeared for the VACB. PTI TBA SSK TBA SSK ROH
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