First-time BJP MLA from Kolar Gold Fields, Mr Y. Sampangi, became the first-ever sitting legislator in the state to be convicted by a court under Prevention of Corruption Act, after he was found guilty of offences charged in a bribery case registered in 2009, on Saturday.
The Lokayukta court sentenced Mr Sampangi to rigorous imprisonment for a maximum of three-and-a-half years and also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000, failing which he will have to serve another six months in jail. Later, the court issued a warrant and directed the Lokayukta police to take the convict into custody and send him to the central prison at Parappana Agrahara.
Lokayukta court judge N.K. Sudhindra Rao held Mr Sampangi guilty of offences under Sec 7, 8 and 13 (1) (d) punishable under 13 (2) of the PC Act. However, the court acquitted another accused, Musthtaq Pasha, a former sub-inspector at Ander-sonpet in KGF. For offences under Sec 8 and Sec 13 (1) (d) of PC Act, the judge sentenced Mr Sampangi to undergo one year rigorous imprisonment along with Rs 30,000 fine and three-and-a-half years rigorous imprisonment along with Rs 30,000 fine (failing which he will have to undergo another six months imprisonment), respectively. The sentences, however, will run concurrently.
Soon after the court pronounced the sentence, the advocate for Mr Sampangi pressed for a lesser sentence praying that he would file for suspension of sentence so as to move for bail. However the judge rejected the plea. The MLA, during the trial, had denied all charges against him and claimed that the “trap” laid for him was a conspiracy to end his political career. Mr Sampangi had said that the complainant, Mr Hussein Mueen Farook, visited him at his Legislators’ Home room around 11.30 am on January 29, 2009 and sought his help to resolve a dispute. Mr Farook left after Mr Sampangi asked him to bring the other party involved in the case. “Later, 10-15 people came to my room and I could recognise only Farook and Bhakta Vatsala, who had lost the assembly election from KGF,” he had claimed.
He had also said that Lokayukta police splashed some powder on his hands, asked him to hold some currency notes and then return it to them. He had charged that Lokayukta police officer Mr Parameshwarappa and Farook threatened to kill him and made him write what they dictated. “I have no connection with any of the transactions,” he had said.