Kottayam (Kerala), February 27 A court here on Friday sentenced the former Ernakulam Additional District Magistrate (ADM) to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs five lakh in a 2015 bribery case.
Kottayam Vigilance Court Judge K V Rajanish sentenced B Ramachandran, a former Ernakulam ADM and native of Mullanthuruty, to seven years in prison in a case related to accepting a bribe to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for renewing the license of a fireworks shop in Tripunithura.
He was found guilty under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the court ordered that the sentences should run concurrently.
According to the prosecution, in 2015, the complainant had applied to the Ernakulam District Collector for an NOC to start a fireworks shop near the Tripunithura market and to expand its stock.
The application was forwarded for inspection to the then ADM, Ramachandran.
During the inspection, the accused allegedly demanded a bribe, stating that the NOC would only be granted if the money was delivered to his official quarters, and that the application would otherwise be rejected.
After the demand was repeated, the complainant approached the Ernakulam Vigilance unit and lodged a complaint.
Acting on the complaint, Vigilance officials laid a trap and caught the accused while accepting the bribe from the complainant.
Public Prosecutor K K Sreekanth appeared for the Vigilance department.