HC stays govt staff’s conviction in graft case

Cuttack: The Orissa high court on Monday stayed the conviction of a state government official for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a contractor to prepare his bills towards digging of well, 15 years back. The court granted the stay after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt the demand of gratification and acceptance by assistant agricultural engineer Satchidananda Behera.The single judge bench of Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo said, “It appears that the observation of the trial court in the impugned judgment that the prosecution has been able to prove both previous demand and instant demand by the petitioner is against the weight of evidence on record.” The court of special judge (vigilance), Cuttack, had sentenced Behera to two years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 following his conviction on May 31, 2023. The court had passed the order on a case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act on November 17, 2009.

Court denies bail to three convicts in NDCCB scam

Bail applications of Amit Verma, Subodh Bhandari, and Nandkishor Trivedi, accused in the 170 crore NDCCB scam, were rejected. Former Congress leader Sunil Kedar, who was also accused, was granted bail by the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court. The accused were convicted for misappropriation of bank funds through private brokers.

Pocso court sentences man to life imprisonment

The additional district judge-cum-special judge (Pocso) in Jajpur sentenced a 34-year-old man to life imprisonment for raping a 16-year-old girl multiple times. The court also fined him Rs 4 lakh and ordered an additional one-year prison term if he fails to pay. The convict was found to be the biological father of the girl's child through DNA testing.

Chittoor court sentences murder case accused to 11 yrs imprisonment

A murder case accused, Veeresh, was sentenced to 11 years imprisonment by the 1st ADJ court at Chittoor. Veeresh, a migrant from Raichur, had a brawl with Ramulu, a fellow laborer, resulting in the latter's death. The court found Veeresh guilty based on the prosecution's evidence and sentenced him.