Bengaluru court sentences ED officer to 3 years jail in bribery case

A Bengaluru court on Friday sentenced former Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer Lalit Bazad to three years imprisonment in a corruption case [The State by CBI/ACB v Sri Lalit Bazad]. 

Judge Manjunath Sangreshi of the Special CBI observed that it has been proved beyond doubt that when Bazad was posted as an Enforcement Officer at ED's Bengaluru branch, he demanded ₹50 lakh in bribes and accepted ₹5 lakh in exchange for the promise to defreeze a bank account. 

The Court imposed a fine of ₹5.5 lakh on him. 

“The accused-Lalit Bazad is sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 3 Years and shall pay a fine of Rs.5,00,000/- [Rupees Five Lakhs Only] for the offence punishable U/Sec.7 [bribery] of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; and in default of payment of fine, he shall undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 6 Months,” the Court said. 

It added, 

“Further, the accused-Lalit Bazad is sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 1 Year and shall pay a fine of Rs.50,000/- [Rupees Fifty Thousand Only] for the offence punishable U/Sec.384 [extortion] of Indian Penal Code; and in default of payment of fine, he shall undergo simple imprisonment for a period of 1 Month.”

Both sentences will run concurrently. 

Bazad was arrested by the CBI in June 2021 on allegations that he demanded ₹50 lakh from the proprietors of a company called Apollo Finvest. 

As per the allegation, Bazad met the owners of Apollo Finvest and threatened to name their company in connection with the Chinese loan app money laundering case if they did not pay him ₹50 lakhs. He said that the case will drag on for over a decade, and their accounts would be frozen. 

Ultimately, Apollo Finvest owners paid him ₹5 lakhs 

After considering the case, the Court concluded that the ED official did demand a bribe while acting in his official capacity and extorted ₹5 lakh. 

Therefore, it convicted him for the offences of bribery and extortion. 

Advocate Sanket M Yenagi appeared for Lalit Bazad. 

CBI was represented by the Public Prosecutor. 

[Read Judgement]