Jhabua(Madhya Pradesh): A special court on Saturday sentenced all the accused, who have been found guilty of providing undue advantage to several people in the 13-year-old Jhabua printing press case.
According to the prosecution, the complainant Rajesh Solanki, a resident of Meghnagar, had lodged a written complaint on February 4, 2010, before the Special Judge's Court, Jhabua. In his complaint, he alleged that Jhabua's then collector Jagdish Sharma and other officials misused their position and gave illegal benefits to private printers by not getting all the government printing work done from the government printing press.
The court handed over its investigation to the Special Police Establishment in Indore. The allegations were confirmed during the investigation. The guilty officers, misusing the post, got the printing work done by Mukesh Sharma, the owner of Rahul Printer of Bhopal, at an exorbitant rate which was higher than government press expenses without tender. In comparison, it was found that while getting the work done at about six times more expensive rate, an additional illegal payment of Rs 27,70,725 was made by the accused to Mukesh Sharma, the owner of Rahul Printers.
The Lokayukta police had registered a case against all of them under the sections of corruption and cheating. After a thorough investigation, a charge sheet was presented in the Special Court. A total of 34 people gave their statements in the case. On the basis of the evidence and witnesses presented, the court convicted Jhabua's then Collector Jagdish Sharma and then District Panchayat CEO JS Dhurve and other four officers under Section 13 (1) (D), 13 (2) PC Act and Section 120 (B). Sharma has been sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 each.
Under Section 420, three years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 4,000 each was imposed. Mukesh Sharma, the owner of Rahul Printers, has been sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and a total fine of Rs 19,000 was imposed on him.
