Mohali, Feb. 25 -- A special court in Mohali sentenced a former branch manager of the employee state insurance corporation (ESIC) to four years of rigorous imprisonment in a bribery case, holding that corruption has become an endemic and eroded institutional credibility. The branch manager, Chander Mohini, was found guilty under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act. Along with the jail term, she was also told to pay a fine of Rs.20,000. She was, however, granted a set-off for the period already undergone in custody under Section 428 (detention) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The case pertains to Mohinder Singh, an employee of a private company, who had suffered fractures in both legs while repairing a shed at his workplace in June 2020. He was registered under the ESI scheme and entitled to receive salary during his medical leave. When his salary for April and May 2021 was not released, his wife approached the ESIC branch at Kharar. The court record states that the branch manager allegedly demanded Rs.10,000 for clearing the pending salary and an additional Rs.5,000 per month to continue releasing payments. The complainant had approached the vigilance bureau with a recording of the conversation. Laying a trap, the vigilance team treated some currency notes with phenolphthalein powder (used to prove that a person has touched the marked currency) and gave it to the complainant to hand over to the branch manager. The court noted that the branch manager had accepted Rs.10,000 and kept it in a drawer, which was subsequently discovered during a raid. During a sodium carbonate solution test, her hand turned pink, confirming contact with the treated currency notes. During sentencing arguments, the defence cited her medical conditions, family responsibilities and clean antecedents, seeking leniency. The prosecution sought maximum punishment, arguing that corruption must be dealt with firmly to serve as a deterrent. The court noted, "Corruption has undermined governance, distorted legal processes and led to institutional decay. Merit is often displaced by patronage and honest officials are demoralised due to rampant corruption."...