Woman sarpanch gets jail in bribery case

A woman sarpanch from a village has been sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment by a Alibaug court for accepting bribe of Rs 7,500 in 2008.
Special Judge H A Patil awarded the sentence yesterday to sarpanch Suman Yeshwant Deore of Kadav village under the Prevention of Corruption Act and also imposed a fine of Rs 7,500 on two different counts, Dy SP ACB Raigad unit, Sunil Kalgutkar said here today in a statement.
Deore had sought the bribe from a villager for granting permission to construct a shed for poultry farming.
The complainant had then approached the Thane unit of ACB, which laid a trap and caught the sarpanch accepting the sum on on August 07, 2008.

The sarpanch was tried under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and also under Sections 13(1)(D) with 13(2) of the Act.
The court held her guilty on both counts and awarded her six months jail under the first section and one year under the second section, which will run concurrently. In case of default, she will have to serve another three months of imprisonment, the statement added.