Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar : A special CBI court on Wednesday sentenced a former central excise superintendent to four years of rigorous imprisonment for demanding and accepting a Rs 1,500 bribe from a young entrepreneur in 2016 in exchange for issuing a service tax registration number .




Special judge Sanjay K Kulkarni convicted Subhash Devidasrao Ingole , then posted with the central excise, customs and service tax department’s Nanded range, under sections 7 [taking gratification] and 13(1)(d) [criminal misconduct — prior to 2018 amendment] read with Section 13(2) [punishment] of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.




Public prosecutor D N Mhaske represented CBI. He said the court awarded Ingole three-year RI and a Rs 5,000 fine for accepting illegal gratification. For criminal misconduct, he was sentenced to four-year RI and fined Rs 10,000. Both sentences will run concurrently. Failure to pay the fines will attract an additional three-month RI. The total fine imposed is Rs 15,000.




According to the prosecution, complainant Krishnamohan Amrutrao Bhange , a freshly graduated engineer, had started an IT contracting business, Krushnai Multi-Services, in Nanded. After applying online for a service tax registration number on Feb 24, 2016, he visited the department office for document verification, where Ingole allegedly demanded Rs 3,000 to process and issue the registration.




Unwilling to pay the bribe, Bhange lodged a complaint with the superintendent of police, CBI's anti-corruption branch (ACB), Nagpur, on Feb 29, 2016.




Inspector Hanuman Jahangir laid a trap after establishing the genuineness of the demand. During the operation, Ingole allegedly renewed his demand and accepted Rs 1,500 from Bhange. He was caught red-handed after the complainant gave a pre-arranged signal to the raiding team. Jahangir subsequently conducted a panchanama in the presence of independent witnesses.




Ingole was arrested and further investigation was handed over to inspector Shriram Lambade. During the trial, the prosecution examined eight witnesses.




The court also directed that the Rs 1,500 recovered during the trap be returned to the complainant after the appeal period. It also directed that the electronic evidence be preserved, while other seized articles, including hand-wash sample bottles, be destroyed once the appeal window closed. The period Ingole spent in custody from Feb 29 to March 1, 2016, will be set off against his sentence.