Bribery Case: CBI Court Sentences CCIT, ITO Officer To 4 Yrs Imprisonment

Bribery Case

A special CBI court in Jodhpur has sentenced Chief Commissioner of Income Tax P.K. Sharma and Income Tax Officer Shailendra Bhandari from Rajasthan to 4 years of imprisonment in a bribery case, according to an official release.

Both officers have also been fined ₹1,10,000 each.

Bribery Case Details

The case dates back to March 31, 2015, when the CBI registered a case against the two officials after their associate, Chandra Prakash, was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of ₹15 lakh from a complainant on their directions.

The CBI said the recovery of the bribe money, along with recorded conversations among the accused, led to the arrests. Following the investigation, a chargesheet was filed against all three before the special CBI court in Jodhpur.

After trial, the court acquitted Chandra Prakash but convicted Sharma and Bhandari, holding them guilty of corruption and sentencing them to four years in prison.

CBI Arrests Fugitive in Avijit Sarkar Murder Case

In a separate development, the Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a fugitive wanted in connection with the murder of Avijit Sarkar, a case tied to the post-poll violence during the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.

The arrest was made on Friday in connection with a case registered in Kolkata on August 25, 2021.

Investigation Timeline

The CBI filed its first chargesheet in the case on September 30, 2021, naming 20 individuals as accused. A supplementary chargesheet was later filed on June 30, 2025, against 18 more individuals, bringing the total number of accused to 38.