Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 17 (PTI) A court here on Thursday sentenced three former officials of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and a building owner to four years’ rigorous imprisonment each for facilitating construction in violation of the Kerala Municipality Building Rules.
Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court Judge Manoj A also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh each on former Assistant Planning Officer J Jayashankar, former Building Inspector V Sashidharan Nair and former U D Clerk R Sankaran, and Rs two lakh on building owner G Mohandas.
According to the prosecution, Mohandas obtained a permit to renovate a building in Vanchiyoor village within the limits of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation but, under the guise of the permit, completely demolished the existing structure and illegally constructed a new four-storey building.
The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau investigation found that Mohandas made financial gains by not paying the tax due to the Corporation and that the failure of the officials concerned to take action resulted in a loss of revenue to the civic body.
The VACB Special Investigation Unit-1 registered a case against Jayashankar, Sashidharan Nair, Sankaran and Mohandas, following which the investigation was completed and a chargesheet filed.
Public Prosecutor Veena Satheesan appeared for the Vigilance.
The investigation was conducted by former Superintendent of Police K E Baiju and former Deputy Superintendents of Police M Madhu, V Ajayakumar, T Ajith Kumar and V Shyamkumar of the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Special Investigation Unit-1. PTI TBA SSK
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