Air India Physician Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Bribery by CBI Court
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Synopsis
A doctor associated with Air India has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined Rs 1 lakh by a CBI court in Gujarat for soliciting a bribe of Rs 25,000 in exchange for a favorable medical report for a new employee.
Key Takeaways
- A doctor from Air India was sentenced to three years in prison.
- He was fined Rs 1 lakh for soliciting a bribe.
- Bribe amount was Rs 25,000 for a favorable medical report.
- The CBI examined numerous witnesses and documents during the trial.
- Two other fraud cases involving significant amounts were also reported.
New Delhi, Feb 13 (NationPress) A Special CBI court located in Gujarat has sentenced a doctor working for Air India to three years of rigorous imprisonment, alongside a fine of Rs 1 lakh, for soliciting a bribe of Rs 25,000 in exchange for providing a favorable medical report to a new employee.
In unrelated cases, the CBI has charged a hotel owner in Uttarakhand for defrauding a bank of Rs 11 crore and an iron casting firm in Rajasthan of Rs 9.62 crore after taking out loans, according to an official statement released on Thursday.
During the proceedings concerning the Air India doctor, the Special CBI court in Ahmedabad found Suresh Marotrao Bhagatkar, who was previously affiliated with the airline in Mumbai, guilty of engaging in corrupt practices under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The trial involved the examination of 27 prosecution witnesses and 49 documents/exhibits that supported the allegations against Bhagatkar.
The CBI initiated the investigation on January 3, 2011, based on claims of bribery and corruption against Bhagatkar.
It was asserted that Bhagatkar conducted a medical examination for an individual applying for the position of Security Agent at Air India Air Transport Corporation Limited, which is a subsidiary of Air India Ltd, and illicitly demanded compensation during a mobile conversation to provide a favorable blood report.
The doctor had insisted on receiving a bribe of Rs 25,000 from the complainant.
When the complainant hesitated to comply, Bhagatkar reiterated his request for the bribe and instructed him to deposit the sum into his bank account, as reported by the CBI.
Following this, the doctor provided his account number to the complainant for the bribe transfer.
An amount of Rs 5,000 was eventually deposited into the aforementioned account, as per the accused's instructions, according to the CBI.
Upon completing the investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on November 9, 2011 against Bhagatkar.
In another case, the federal agency has accused a private establishment, Hotel Pine Queen, along with unidentified individuals and public officials, of committing fraud amounting to Rs 11.78 crore against Punjab National Bank in New Tehri, Uttarakhand, after securing loans and an overdraft facility from the bank during the period of 2012 to 2016.
The bank's Chief Manager, Sanjeev Kumar Singh, indicated that the proprietor of the hotel, Sandeep Panwar, misled the bank by not mortgaging the land where the hotel was situated, but rather another plot.
In a different instance, the federal agency has initiated a case of fraud and misappropriation against an iron casting company based in Rajasthan, M.B. Castings, and three of its officials for defrauding Punjab National Bank in Nehru Place, Jaipur of Rs 9.62 crore.
The accused officials—Krishan Kumar Gupta, Bhavesh Gupta, and Madhu Gupta—are alleged to have diverted and siphoned funds, along with misappropriating goods pledged to the bank, as stated in the CBI's FIR.
