PEOPLE who engage public officials for their personal agendas in an unlawful manner will be dealt with severely by the court.
Magistrate Shageeth Somaratne made the comment in the Suva Magistrates Court yesterday when sentencing Ben Padarath to 25 months imprisonment.
Padarath was convicted of giving false information to a public servant last month after he pleaded guilty to the charge.
The facts were that on or about January 23 in 2011, Padarath gave information he knew was false, via text messages, to Immigration director Nemani Vuniwaqa.
The text intended to cause Mr Vuniwaqa to include the name of one Paul Freeman on the Fiji immigration watch list.
While sentencing Padarath, Magistrate Somaratne said by giving false information, he had wasted the resources of public institutions and deprived the liberty of an innocent person.
Padarath, who has 28 days to appeal the sentence, must serve a minimum of 16 months before being eligible for parole.
