Picture for representational purpose only.

MUMBAI: A special trial judge on Saturday convicted three officers of BMC 's building proposal department and two private individuals in a 2014 bribery case. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had laid a trap after Vilas Khillari, an assistant engineer, had demanded Rs 25 lakh to issue building permissions for a project in Dadar . The money was to be shared with co-convict Balaji Birajdar, also an assistant engineer.

The court sentenced Khillari (46) and Birajdar (35) to four years' rigorous imprisonment for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, while the third civic official, Sunil Rathod (46), an executive engineer, was sentenced to three years' RI. All three were from the building proposal department, Byculla (E).

Architect Satish Palav (59), convicted for abetment under the PCA, got also got three years' RI, while the fifth accused Narayan Patil (42), also convicted as an abettor, was sentenced to three years' simple imprisonment.

All five had been out on bail. On Saturday, the court said bail bonds stood forfeited, and Khillari and Birajdar were taken into custody. The other three continue to be out on bail.

The case against the accused, as argued by public prosecutor J V Desai , was that Khillari had demanded the bride to clear the files and release an Intimation of Disapproval (IOD), an initial sanction necessary for construction to begin, for a redevelopment project a builder was undertaking in Dadar.

The IOD had been granted, and the builder was waiting for the formalities to be completed, but when faced with the money demand allegedly for the second time, he lodged a complaint with the ACB which laid a trap. On the assigned day, October 20, 2014, he went with Rs15 lakh to the civic office where Palav was caught red-handed with Rs10 lakh while Patil was arrested with the remaining Rs5 lakh.

The prosecution produced evidence to establish that Palav was caught accepting the money for Khillari who, when the money was brought, asked that it be given to the architect. The ACB said Palav had acted as the conduit to receive the amount, while Patil had taken the money meant for Birajdar.

Palav's defence counsel Shashikant Parab and Girish Kulkarni had denied any wrongdoing by his client. The lawyers had argued that as a private person, Palav cannot be charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act for offences under Section 7 (public servant taking illegal gratification) or Section 13 (criminal misconduct by a public servant) as he had never demanded money. At best he could have been made a witness by the prosecution.

D S Jambulikar, defence counsel for the civic officials and Patil, also took a plea of denial and said there was no evidence.

Special judge A S Bhagwat, however, found the prosecution had made its case and held Khillari and Birajdar guilty for offences under Sections 7 and 13(1) (d) for seeking to enrich themselves monetarily by abusing their positions as public servants. The punishment under the law for the offence is a minimum of one year and a maximum of seven plus fine. The judge sentenced them to four years' RI and fined both Rs20,000 each.

Rathod was held guilty under Section 7, which provides for a maximum of five years' imprisonment. The court sentenced him to three years' RI and fined him Rs10,000.

Palav was convicted for an offence under Section 12 (for abetment of a criminal misconduct by a public servant) of PCA and, apart from the sentence, asked to pay Rs5 000. The maximum punishment under the law for abetment is five years of jail. Patil, held guilty under Section 12 of PCA, was given three years' simple imprisonment.

The court directed that the Rs 15 lakh cash seized, which was deposited in government treasury, be returned to the developer after the period for filing appeals is over, if not already returned by the ACB.

