A vigilance court has sentenced former Thiruvananthapuram Legal Metrology deputy controller Ajith Kumar B S to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh for accepting an Rs 8,000 bribe from a fuel station owner, according to the Times of India.
Kumar, 58, of Poovachal, was serving as deputy controller at the Legal Metrology department’s Pattom office when the offence took place in 2022. The court found him guilty after the vigilance department established that he had demanded Rs 16,000 to complete a mandatory regulatory procedure for a fuel station.
The complainant, a resident of Muttathara, had approached the department with an application for the annual stamping of measuring instruments at his fuel station in Akkulam. The process is required for the station, and the operator needed the department to complete the stamping and issue the relevant certificate.
According to the vigilance department, Kumar demanded Rs 16,000 to carry out the procedure and provide the certificate. The amount was to be paid in instalments, with Rs 8,000 forming the first payment. Following the complaint, officials from the Thiruvananthapuram vigilance unit arranged a trap.
Kumar was caught red-handed while accepting the first instalment, after which the vigilance department registered a case. The prosecution said the payment was linked to the completion of a statutory certification process involving measuring instruments used at the fuel station.
The case illustrates how routine compliance procedures can become points of direct interaction between businesses and regulatory offices. Annual stamping is intended to ensure that measuring instruments used in commercial transactions are checked and certified. For fuel stations, such procedures are part of the operating requirements overseen by the Legal Metrology department.
The investigation was conducted by Vigilance deputy superintendent of police R Vinod Kumar. Public prosecutor Veena Satheesan appeared for the vigilance department during the proceedings.
The sentencing follows the vigilance department’s trap operation and subsequent prosecution of the former official. The court’s order imposes both a custodial sentence and a financial penalty, bringing the reported trial proceedings to a conclusion.
