Jodhpur, Sept. 27 -- A special CBI court in Jodhpur on Friday convicted former principal chief commissioner of Income Tax PK Sharma and then Income Tax Officer Shailendra Bhandari in a 2015 bribery case, sentencing them to four years' imprisonment along with a fine of Rs.1.10 lakh each. The verdict was delivered by special judge (CBI cases) Bhupendra Kumar Sanadhya. Following the order, both officers were sent to Jodhpur Central Jail. "The accused committed heinous acts of corruption which are a grave injury to public trust," the court observed. It added that "corruption has spread in every field and is eating into the economy of the country like termites. Despite stringent provisions for punishment under the Prevention of Corruption Act, public servants are not refraining from corruption, rather they are inventing new methods of indulging in it. In such cases, showing undue leniency towards the accused does not appear justified." The case dates back to March 31, 2015, when complainant Kishore Jain approached the CBI office in Jodhpur alleging that Sharma, along with Income Tax Commissioner O.P. Meena, Joint Commissioner Jai Singh, and Officer Bhandari, had demanded Rs.23 lakh to settle the income tax assessment of his firm, Mahaveer Infra Engineering Pvt. Ltd., for the year 2012-13. According to the complaint, Bhandari had directed Jain to deliver part of the money at a jewellery showroom near Sojati Gate. Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and arrested Sharma, Bhandari, and jeweller Chandraprakash Katta while accepting Rs.15 lakh as bribe. While the special court convicted Sharma and Bhandari, Katta was acquitted of all charges....