The CBI court in Punjab’s Mohali has handed down a three-year rigorous imprisonment sentence and a total fine of Rs 3.3 lakh to 11 individuals, including Rajesh Ranjan, a former District Manager at the Food Corporation of India (FCI), in a corruption case dating back two decades.
Among those convicted are Azad Singh, the former Deputy Manager, and D.K. Sharma and Gian Singh, former Assistant Managers at the FCI in Faridkot. Additionally, Raj Kumar, R.C. Puri, Gulab Singh, Pitambir Singh, and G.P.S. Kalra, who were Technical Assistants at the FCI in Moga, were convicted, along with two private individuals, Govinder Singh and Pardeep Bansal.
The case, registered by the CBI on January 7, 2006, involved FCI officials and rice millers in the Punjab region during the Kharif season of 2004-05. It was alleged that substandard rice was accepted by FCI officials, falsely labeled as top quality, leading to financial losses when the consignments were rejected or accepted as substandard in other states.
The specific focus of the case was the Moga depot. Following an investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet on November 28, 2008, leading to the recent convictions and sentencing by the court.
