A special CBI court has sentenced National Archives archivist Satyadhari Lal Sahu to three years in prison for demanding and accepting a ₹15,000 bribe to locate and provide certified copies of historic Rajkot land records, according to a report by Nav Gujarat Samay – Ahmedabad.
The case concerned old land records from the British period and CRO records relating to land in Rajkot. The complainant, Vijay Singh S. Zala, had applied at the National Archives Record Centre in Jaipur to obtain the documents. The court found Sahu guilty after considering the evidence and documents presented by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
According to the report, Sahu initially did not provide a satisfactory response to Zala’s application. He allegedly demanded ₹10,000 for locating the records and another ₹5,000 as personal expenses, taking the total demand to ₹15,000. The demand was linked to the search for the documents and the supply of their certified copies.
Zala then contacted the CBI office in Gandhinagar and reported the demand. The agency carried out a verification exercise in the presence of witnesses and recorded the alleged demand for the bribe, the report said.
The CBI subsequently prepared a trap operation in Rajkot on December 26, 2012. According to the report, the agency gave Zala government currency notes coated with phenolphthalein powder. Sahu travelled from Jaipur to Rajkot and stayed at Pragati Apartment in the city. The complainant handed over the documents there and placed the bribe amount in a folder accompanying the archivist.
The CBI team then raided the location, caught Sahu and seized the money, the report said. After completing its investigation, the agency filed a chargesheet before the court. During the trial, the prosecution relied on witness testimony and documentary evidence to establish the case against the accused.
The court imposed a three-year prison sentence on Sahu. During the judgment, it observed that imposing the maximum punishment against officials accepting bribes was necessary in the interests of justice and to set an example in society, according to the report.
The case highlights the administrative importance of historical land records, which can be required to establish ownership, trace property history and support applications involving land documentation. The report does not provide details of any separate administrative action by the National Archives or information on the present status of the records sought by the complainant.
The immediate legal development is the special CBI court’s conviction and sentencing order against Sahu in the 14-year-old bribery case.
