Staff Reporter
YUPIA, 27 Feb: The special POCSO court here in Papum Pare district on Monday convicted tax & excise joint commissioner Tani Jongkey under Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and sentenced him to three years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) in connection with the 2017 sexual assault on a minor case.
The court gave a month’s time to the defence to file an appeal in the high court.
Sharing details of the sentence, special public prosecutor Kagam Bagra informed that “Jongkey will be on bail for a period of one month, owing to his defence team’s appeal seeking time to file an appeal in the high court.”
On 2 June, 2017, Jongkey was accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl and was booked by the police under the POCSO Act. Following this, the government on 22 August, 2017 placed Jongkey under suspension and constituted a two-member panel to inquire into the charges against him.
However, the high court directed the state authorities to revoke the suspension order and reinstate Jongkey in service from 22 November, 2017 – the day he was suspended.
In March 2018, Jongkey was reinstated as tax & excise joint commissioner by the high court.
A year later, on 12 August, 2019, Jongkey was sent into compulsory retirement through an order issued by the chief secretary. He, however, got reprieve from the high court and rejoined service in 2022.
