Corruption in public service is "causing loss of faith" in the administration, Special Judge B R Kedia said while convicting Surender Kumar Khanna, an accountant in District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh in 2005, for offering bribe to a Director in the Ministry.
However, the court granted bail to 53-year-old Khanna till July 16 on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety of the like amount after he filed an application seeking suspension of sentence.
A complaint was filed by Avtar Singh Sahota, Director (Rural Housing) in Ministry of Rural Development, here accusing Khanna of offering Rs 5,000 bribe to him for early processing of papers related to release of funds under the 'Indira Awaas Yojana' scheme. Under it, Rs 25,000 was being given to poor people living below the poverty line.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Khanna and noted that the "efficiency in public service would improve only when the public servants exhibit honesty in day-to-day affairs."
"It cannot be ignored that cancer of corruption has spread over its tentacles in the social life to such an extent that belief of common man on the institutional work is obliterated.
"The social fabric is destroyed by corrupt practices in the public service. Not only that such corruption causes loss of faith in public administration, but it also demoralises bunch of honest officers in the concerned institution," the court said. (More)