A Pulwama court on Thursday sentenced a former Junior Engineer of the Rural Development Department to seven years’ imprisonment for manipulating his date of birth by five years in his service book.
Special Judge Anti-Corruption Pulwama, Dr. Noor Mohammad Mir, also imposed a fine of Rs 3,52,760 on the convict, Sonaullah Wani (now octogenarian), after finding him guilty of multiple offences, more than two decades after the trial began.
According to prosecution, the case had been registered in 2000 by erstwhile Vigilance Organization of Kashmir (VoK), now Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), following a complainant.During the investigation, the VoK had sent Wani’s matriculation certificate to J&K Board of School Education for verification and it had confirmed his actual Date of Birth to be 8 June 1940 instead of 8 June 1945.
Wani’s Service Book was also sent to Jammu and Kashmir Forensic Science Laboratory Srinagar and it confirmed that its first page had been torn off and fresh one tagged. Besides, all the entries including Date of Birth entry were found to be fictitious, which have been made by Wani under his own hand, the prosecution said.
The investigation revealed that Wani caused wrongful loss to the state exchequer to the tune of Rs.2,62,760 by his overstay in the department fraudulently for 21 months beyond his actual date of retirement i.e 30 June 1998. Wani’s pay had been stopped in April 2000.
In 2003, the VoK had filed chargesheet against Wani for the offences punishable under sections 5 (2) Prevention of Corruption Act 2006 and erstwhile RPC’s 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable documents) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine).
After hearing both the sides and weighing evidence, the court held Wani guilty for the commission of offences punishable under section 420, 467, 471 RPC and 5 (2) of J&K Prevention of Corruption Act Svt. 2006.
The court said that convicted person as a public servant, forged official documents to illegitimately siphon off public money (salary) and occupy a public post for which he was not eligible.
“This is a form of corruption and fraud on the system. It is not a trivial or victimless crime,” the court said. However, considering advanced age of Wani, the court sentenced him to simple imprisonment for seven (7) years and a fine of Rs 50,000 (Rupees Fifty Thousand) for offence under Section 467 RPC In default of payment of fine, he shall undergo simple imprisonment for a further six (6) months, the court said.
For offence under Section 471 RPC, Wani has been sentenced to simple imprisonment for five (5) years and a fine of RS 20,000 (Rupees Twenty Thousand only). In default of fine, the court ordered that he shall further undergo simple imprisonment for three (3) months.
For offence under Section 420 RPC, the court awarded simple imprisonment for five (5) years and a fine of rs 20,000 (Rupees Twenty Thousand only) to him. In default of fine, he has been ordered to undergo further simple imprisonment for three (3) months.
“For offence under Section 5(2) J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, Svt. 2006 the convict is sentenced to simple imprisonment for three (3) years and a fine of ?2,62,760/- (Rupees Two Lakhs Sixty-Two Thousand Seven Hundred Sixty only),” the court said, adding, “The fine amount for this offence is set equivalent to the quantified wrongful gain derived by the convict (?2,62,760/-) so as to make reparations for the loss caused to the State exchequer. In default of payment of this fine, the convict shall undergo simple imprisonment for a further six (6) months.”
The court ordered that all the substantive sentences of imprisonment shall run concurrently. “The effective term of imprisonment shall thus be (07) seven years,” the court said.