Bangalore : Striking hard against corrupt elected representatives, the Lokayukta Special Court today sentenced BBMP corporator Govindaraju to four years rigorous imprisonment and ordered him to pay Rs 90,000 as fine for accepting bribe from a builder.

Reading out his verdict, the special court judge Sudhindra Rao said the charges against the accused that he demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs two lakh from a builder for getting him sanction for building an apartment block from Bruhut Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has been proved beyond any doubt.

‘This verdict should prove as a lesson to elected representatives who, instead of serving people and ensuring their rights, indulge in corrupt practices and extortion.

This is a clear case of extortion and it has been proved beyond doubt,’ the judge, who is handling some high profile cases, said in his order.

A case was filed by the Lokayukta police after Govindaraju demanded and accepted Rs two lakh from the builder on June 17, 2010. The builder, fed up with the demands of the sentenced, had complained with the Lokayukta police who had arranged a trap.

Govindaraju, a Congress councillor, had demanded Rs eight lakh from one Uday Kumar who had applied for getting the licence approved from the BBMP. He had first paid Rs two lakh as advance and later was fed up with repeated demand for more money.

After the case was taken up by the court, the Lokayukta police had filed a detailed charge sheet. The corporator was immediately arrested and taken to central jail at Parappana Agrahara on the outskirts of the city.