PANAJI
A former Chief Officer of the Pernem Municipal Council (PMC) is set to stand trial for a corruption case nearly nine years after he and his subordinate were caught accepting a bribe from a photo studio owner.
In Mach 2014, the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Directorate of Vigilance booked the Chief Officer (CO) Kamlakar Halarnkar and Upper Division Clerk (UDC) Shenvi Desai for accepting Rs 700 bribe from Mahesh Pednekar to grant him a No Objection Certificate for setting up a photo studio.
Pednekar had approached them seeking the NOC, which remained pending for three months. According to the charge sheet filed two years later, Desai told Pednekar that he would have to pay a bribe to ensure the issuance of the NOC. The complainant thereafter decided to carry out a sting operation, recorded their conversation and captured video evidence of the officer demanding and accepting the bribe.
During the hearing before the Additional Sessions Court, the prosecution submitted that the CFSL, Chandigarh’s analysis of the voice samples compared the voice of the accused revealed significant similarities in their acoustic features, phonetic patterns, and other linguistic cues.
The UDC subsequently applied to turn an approver in the case, a request that was accepted by the Court and his statement recorded.
In the order framing the charges against the former CO, Additional Sessions Judge Sharmila Patil noted that Pednekar’s statement and the preliminary inquiry conducted by the vigilance department provided strong prima facie evidence that the accused was indeed involved in the offense.
