NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

AP judge convicted in graft case

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

A former Hyderabad metropolitan sessions judge was convicted to three years' imprisonment for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Principal Special Judge for Anti-Corruption Bureau cases, C V Raghavaiah on Tuesday sentenced S Janardhana Rao, formerly third metropolitan sessions judge, city criminal courts, to three-year rigorous imprisonment. He also ordered the former judge to pay a fine of Rs 6,000 or, in case of default, undergo a further simple imprisonment for two months.

This is the first time in the history of Andhra Pradesh that a judicial official has been convicted for corruption.

Janardhana Rao was trapped by the state ACB officials at his house in Padmaraonagar in Secunderabad on March 5, 1996, when he sought a hefty bribe and a Maruti car from Sant Esher Singh, the prime accused in the sensational murder of Joga Singh, in Hyderabad.

In a simultaneous raid at his house at Hanamkonda town, Janardhana Rao's wife Indira and son Prashant were arrested by the ACB after Indira accepted tainted notes amounting to Rs 300,000.

The case against Janardhana Rao was that he had demanded a bribe of Rs 600,000 from Esher Singh to ensure his acquittal in the case. Esher Singh was warned that he would be awarded death penalty if he did not meet the demands of the metropolitan sessions judge. A police constable Moinuddin acted as the go-between and later the judge called Esher Singh to his house to finalise the deal.

Joga Singh, a businessman and then president of a gurdwara at Gulbarga in the neighbouring Karnataka state, was shot dead at his house at Shahinayatgunj in the Old City on March 31, 1989, allegedly by Esher Singh and his accomplices.

The motive for the murder was a dispute over the property managed by the gurdwara.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report