MLA Sampangi Jailed

1st Karnataka MLA To Be Jailed For Graft
Madhusoodan MK and Rajiv Kalkod TNN

Bangalore: For the first time in Karnataka, the special Lokayukta court has sent a sitting MLA to jail for accepting a bribe. Kolar Gold Fields MLA Y Sampangi was on Saturday led into Parappana Agrahara prison after Lokayukta court judge N K Sudhindra Rao sentenced him to three and a half years’ rigorous imprisonment for accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh.
The judge also slapped on Sampangi a fine of Rs 40,000; if he doesn’t pay up, he will have to undergo six months’ additional rigorous imprisonment. The court also slapped a fine of Rs 30,000. He has been convicted on three counts under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Sampangi entered the prison at around 4pm. Around 6pm, he was shifted to the observation cell, where new inmates are kept. Once they get used to the harsh reality of their arrest, they are shifted to the barracks. As per rules, doctors checked Sampangi at the jail hospital.
“He was tense, anxious and depressed. He silently signed the papers and was moved to the VIP cell,” prison sources told STOI.
Sampangi, who earned Rs 6,667 per day as an MLA — Rs 2 lakh a month — will now earn Rs 30 a day as a convict. As per jail rules, convicts undergoing rigorous imprisonment should do jobs like carpentry, gardening, tailoring and weaving.
Unlike VIP inmates like Janardhana Reddy, Sampangi is not allowed home food.
For his jail stay, Sampangi was given a white shirt and shorts. However, in the evening, he was seen in maroon pyjamas and a white shirt. He was also given a pillow, two towels and a blanket. He will have to share an Indian-style toilet with 30 other convicts. WANTED MONEY TO FIX THINGS
Lokayukta police laid a trap for Sampangi after a KGF businessman, Hussain Moyeen Farooq, complained that the MLA had demanded a bribe of nearly Rs 5 lakh to prevent trespass on his property. The legislator had also promised to have criminal cases against Farooq closed. Sampangi was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 45,000 in cash and Rs 4.5 lakh by cheque at his Legislators’ Home accommodation. HegdeSpeak I’m happy that justice has prevailed. I hope the government will be alive to the institution of Lokayukta. Corrupt people are emboldened by the support they get. In this background, many people are reluctant to file complaints. However, with such verdicts, and with greater awareness, more scams will be exposed.
Justice Santosh N Hegde | FORMER LOKYUKTA, UNDER WHOSE SUPERVISION SAMPANGI WAS TRAPPED IN 2009


OFF TO JAIL: KGF legislator Y Sampangi is arrested after the Lokayukta court denied him bail on Saturday