Kyiv:

A Ukrainian deputy energy minister accused of taking a bribe worth half a million dollars has been arrested along with three alleged accomplices, Ukraine’s SBU Security Service said on Monday.

The minister, whom the SBU did not name, allegedly demanded mining industry officials pay him to transfer equipment from mines in the frontline eastern Donetsk region to a coal basin in western Ukraine.

“The equipment in question is unique and scarce, belonging to one of the state-owned coal companies located in the most active area of the eastern frontline — Pokrovsk,” the SBU said in a statement.

“In the spring of 2024, industry representatives approached the deputy energy minister to obtain permission to evacuate the equipment from the war zone and use it at mines in a western region,” it added.

“However, the official, whose duties included the preservation of mining equipment, demanded money for its removal,” it said.

The minister took the payment with the help of three alleged accomplices, all of whom were caught “red handed” after the minister had received part of the bribe, according to the statement.

The SBU did not disclose the identity of the four accused, posting photos of its officers arresting the suspects with their faces blurred.

But Ukrainian opposition MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak named the minister as Oleksandr Kheilo, a deputy energy minister.

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers later issued an order to dismiss Kheilo from his post, according to a government Telegram channel.

Ukraine, which had severe corruption problems even before Russia’s 2022 invasion, has pledged to bolster efforts to combat graft as it seeks EU membership and to reassure its Western military backers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rose to power on a platform of ending corruption, and has fired a number of officials including his defence minister last year over graft scandals in the army.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

An amount of Rs 100 seems to be “too small” as a bribe in the year 2007 and more so now, the Bombay High Court has said while acquitting a government medical officer in a corruption and bribery case.

A single bench of Justice Jitendra Jain on Tuesday said it was a fit case to be treated as a trivial matter and upheld the trial court order acquitting the medical officer.

In 2007, one LT Pingale accused Dr Anil Shinde, the medical officer of a rural hospital at Paud in Maharashtra’s Pune district, of seeking Rs 100 to certify his injuries following an alleged assault by his nephew.

Mr Pingale complained to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which laid a trap and caught Dr Shinde red-handed. He was prosecuted under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In January 2012, a special court acquitted Dr Shinde of all charges which was challenged by the state in the high court.

The high court, however, found no merit in the state’s appeal.

“In the instant case, the allegation is acceptance of a bribe of Rs 100 in the year 2007. The amount appears to be too small in the year 2007 and more so, in the year 2023 when the appeal is being heard against the acquittal,” the bench said in its order.

“Therefore, assuming that the appellant-complainant is able to prove the charges (although, I have already held that they have failed to prove the charges), in my view after considering quantum at the relevant time this could be a fit case to be treated as a trivial matter to uphold the acquittal order,” it said.

The bench relied on certain provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act that if the alleged bribe of gratification is trivial, then no inference of corruption may be drawn and the court may refuse to presume that the accused is corrupt.

The high court dismissed the state government’s appeal.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)