I-T officer acquitted in graft case

Income tax officer Shanti Lal Sharma was on Friday acquitted from a graft case on benefit of doubt by the CBI special court. The income tax officer was accused of demanding an illegal gratification of Rs 10,000.

Reportedly, in April 2010, the income-tax officer who was already convicted under a Prevention of Corruption case by the CBI Special Court was alleged to have threatened Kuldip Goyal, owner of a karyana shop, to open files in the income tax department against him, if Goyal would not give him Rs 10,000.

According to the complaint, the income tax inspector had first asked for the bribe on April 1, 2012 and on April 6, 2010 he was arrested by the CBI after a trap was laid. On November 3, 2010, he was chargesheeted and on Friday the court acquitted him off all the charges.

The CBI special court had convicted the income tax officer in a bribe case on September 2009. The court of Darshan Singh had found Shanti Lal Sharma guilty under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In the previous case, in the year 2006, Karam Pal, a resident of Burail, had made a complaint to the CBI that Sharma had visited his house and made inquiries about his house, which was under construction, and other income-related details.

The complainant told the officer that he had got Rs 76 lakh as loan while his parents had given him Rs 15 lakh.

Pal stated in his complaint that Sharma had threatened to implicate him in a false case of disproportionate assets. Lal also demanded Rs 1 lakh as bribe, the complainant averred.

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