Food safety Officer Sentenced to 3 years in prison for Accepting a Bribe of Rs 5,000 in Bengaluru

Ullas B Ganganahalli, the former food safety officer for the Health and Family Welfare Department on deputation in the South Zone of BBMP, faced severe consequences for accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 to issue a license for manufacturing spice powder.

A special court has sentenced him to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh. Judge KM Radhakrishna of the Special Court for Lokayukta cases delivered the sentence after confirming the charges of bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Rejecting the defendant’s request for mercy, the court remarked that corruption has become pervasive throughout the system. Public officials, such as the accused, have turned their roles into a license to engage in corruption fully, without any regard for the law, ethics, or basic human values.

Ganganahalli instructed the complainant, Mahesh BV, to place the Rs 5,000 bribe inside a notebook located on the back seat of his car, which was parked on the Health Department premises near Anand Rao Circle. This occurred after Ganganahalli descended from the third floor of the building and took his place in the driver’s seat.

Following the operation, Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials confiscated an undisclosed sum of Rs 90,510 from him, in addition to the bribe. The accused claimed he was unaware of the money contained in the notebook.

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The court dismissed the argument, stating that it is reasonable to question how the complainant could have left the money in a notebook on the back seat unless the accused had opened the back door of his car and allowed it to remain there.

Mahesh had applied for a license to manufacture spice powder. When he received a call on his mobile phone, Ganganahalli instructed him to meet at Gangothri Circle in BTM Layout on December 11, 2018. Upon presenting a copy of his application for the license, the then Food Safety Officer allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 10,000, indicating this with ten fingers.

However, when the complainant stated he could not pay that amount, the officer reduced the demand to Rs 5,000, signaling with five fingers.

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