India News | Retired Govt Doctor, PA Get 3-year Jail Term for Taking Bribe of Wrist Watch & Jerkin

Kota (Rajasthan), Aug 6 (PTI) An Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) court here on Friday convicted a retired government doctor and his private assistant to three years in jail for taking bribe to recommend shifting of a murder accused inmate from Kota Central Jail to a hospital for treatment back in 2009.

Since the jail term is less than four years, the convicts were given chance on bail to appeal against the decision in an upper court within a month.

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The ACB court sentenced Dr Ajay Saxena (62), the then doctor on duty in Kota Central Jail, and his private assistant Jugraj (36) to three years in jail for receiving a woman's wrist watch and a jerkin as bribe at his clinic in June 2009, Assistant Director Prosecution (ADP), ACB Court, Kota, Ashok Joshi said.

The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh each, he added.

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A city resident on June 1, 2009 lodged a complaint with the ACB and alleged that Saxena demanded bribe of a woman's wrist watch and a jerkin for the recommendation of medical care in hospital to his brother Radheyshyam Bhumliya, who was lodged in the jail under judicial custody in a murder case, he said.

Acting on the complaint, the ACB arrested Saxena accepting through his assistant Jugraj the wrist watch and a jerkin at his clinic the next day on June 2, 2009, Joshi further said.

Terming the acceptance of bribe by an on-duty government employee "a serious crime", ACB Court judge Pramod Kumar Malik on Friday held Saxena, since retired, and his personal assistant Jugraj guilty and convicted the duo to three years in jail, Joshi said.

It is a serious matter that cases of gross negligence and non-compliance of duty by officials in jail towards the inmates is rising and measures need to be taken to check such corrupt practices, the court observed.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)