New Delhi, March 26 (IANS) A Delhi court Saturday awarded varying jail terms, with a maximum of three years, to two Delhi Development Authority (DDA) employees and their accomplice in a corruption case.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Special Judge Pradeep Chaddah said: "The menace of corruption has entered into each and every segment of the society. Because lenient views have been taken in the past, we have reached the present hopeless situation."

All the three, including a DDA assistant director, were arrested in 2001 by the CBI on a complaint of Chattar Singh, a resident of Nangloi.

"The officials had demanded Rs.5,000 bribe from him for issuing a no objection certificate (NOC) for his property," Singh alleged in his complaint, adding that the NOC was required as he wanted to take a loan against his property.

The court said: "DDA Assistant Director Pradeep Kumar Sharma and clerk Ved Prakash are awarded three years jail."

The court has also imposed a fine of Rs.1 lakh on each of the two convicts.

Tea vendor Inderjeet, who acted as their conduit, was awarded one-year jail term along with a fine of Rs.20,000.

The CBI arrested the DDA employees from their office when the complainant was paying Rs.3,000 as bribe to them.