Amarinder orders dismissal of civil servant convicted of graft

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered the dismissal of the state civil service officer who was convicted and sentenced to jail in a 2010 bribery case last month.

Punjab Civil Services (PCS) officer T.K. Goyal has been dismissed from service under Article 311 of Civil Service Rules, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said on Monday, adding that the Chief Minister took serious cognizance of the officer's conviction and ordered his immediate removal from office.

The PCS officer was sentenced last month to three years of rigorous imprisonment in the bribery case, that was reported when he was Joint Secretary in the Scheduled Castes/Backward Classes (SC/BC) Welfare Department.

Goyal was arrested on September 8, 2010, under the Prevention of Corruption Act, from his office at the civil secretariat in Chandigarh on a complaint by George Shambu of Begowal village in Kapurthala district, after he was caught "red-handed" while accepting Rs 50,000 for issuing an SC certificate.

At present, the 1995 batch officer was posted as project director, Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), in addition to holding charge as Joint Secretary, Higher Education.

--IANS

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