Cuttack: A special vigilance court here has sentenced a teacher to four years' imprisonment after finding him guilty in a 21-year-old cheating and corruption case on Tuesday.

"Sunil Kumar Behera faced trial for getting appointment as sevak/assistant teacher by producing false documents and thereby obtaining pecuniary gain and causing wrongful loss to the state government," a vigilance official said.

The trial was conducted on the basis of a case registered on February 18, 1997. Sunil was then a sevak/assistant teacher at Jayapura Residential Sevashram at Narsinghpur block in Cuttack district.

To become qualified as an assistant teacher in sevashram schools, one needs to have a minimum qualification of matriculation along with a certified training (CT) diploma. But Behera had submitted false educational qualification documents to grab the job.

Endorsing the prosecution case, the Court of Additional Special Judge, Vigilance, Cuttack, convicted Sunil and sentenced him to four-years' rigorous imprisonment for offences under Prevention of Corruption Act and sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using a forged document) and 477-A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code.

The trial court also imposed on him a fine of Rs 5,000.

On July 12, another special vigilance court had sentenced a revenue inspector to one-year's imprisonment for taking bribe more than four years ago.

That case was registered against Rudrapal Behera on November 13, 2013, for demand and acceptance of Rs 1,000 bribe from a person to submit an enquiry report to the tehsildar for issuance of legal heir certificate in favour of his mother.

Rudrapal was then the revenue inspector of Dantiamuhan revenue circle under Morada tehsil in Mayurbhanj district.

The Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Baripada, had sentenced Rudrapal to one-year's imprisonment for offences under Prevention of Corruption Act and also imposed on him fine of Rs 5,000.