Rouse Avenue Court acquits all accused in CBI bribery case against IRTS officer

New Delhi [India], September 27 (ANI): In a significant ruling today, the Special Judge (CBI) at Rouse Avenue Court under the Prevention of Corruption Act delivered a judgment acquitting all accused in the case titled "CBI v. Ravi Mohan Sharma & Ors."
The matter came up before Special Judge Sudhanshu Kaushik, who, after a detailed appreciation of the prosecution's case and the defence submissions, held that the charges could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
The allegations pertained to Ravi Mohan Sharma, a 1997-batch IRTS officer, then serving as Director, Traffic Transportation (Coaching), who was accused of receiving illegal gratification for facilitating the hiring of railway coaches for group tours organised by M/s Rail Tour India LLP and its partners, Rajesh Champaklal Jodhani and Kumar Vadilal Shah.
According to the prosecution, the alleged offence was supported by intercepted telephone conversations and a purported "trap" conducted on October 22, 2014, during which Sharma was accused of accepting a bribe of Rs five lakhs at his Delhi residence.
The CBI further claimed that the bribe amount was routed through the hawala channel and was intended to secure special trains and additional coaches for the benefit of the tour operators.
Ravi Mohan Sharma was arrested at the time of the alleged transaction, while the tour operators also came under scrutiny during the investigation.
After evaluating the evidence, the Court acquitted all the accused of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Indian Penal Code, bringing closure to a case pending since 2014.
Ravi Mohan Sharma was represented by a legal team led by Senior Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, assisted by Nishaank Mattoo, Prince Kumar, Joy Banerjee, Amrita Vatsa, Rishabh Munjal, R.B. Siddhartha, Muskan Sharma, Yash Saxena, Samarth Kasana Panwar, and Khushi Arora.
The remaining accused, Rajesh Champaklal Jodhani, Kumar Vadilal Shah and M/s Rail Tour India LLP were represented by Hemant Shah, along with Anindya Malhotra, Akshay Rana, Saurabh Pal, Vishal Manni, Ojas Kaushik, Sourabh Rajput, and Ms Aishwarya. (ANI)