Twitter
Advertisement

SC upholds conviction of duo for Rs100 bribe

More than 17 years after being caught demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs100 from a patient at a government hospital, the Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of two employees under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

More than 17 years after being caught demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs100 from a patient at a government hospital, the Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of two employees under Prevention of Corruption Act.

But since the incident was nearly two-decades-old and the duo - Mukut Bihari and Kalyan Mal - had undergone considerable trauma during the protracted litigation, the court reduced the punishment to one year RI as against the two-year sentence imposed by the trial court and affirmed by the Rajasthan High Court.

"However, considering the fact that the incident occurred about two decades ago and the appellants suffer from severe ailments, they have lost their service long ago and suffered the agony of protracted litigation, the appellant no 1 (Mukut) has been suffering from acute pancreatitis and both the appellants have served the sentence for more than six months, in the facts and circumstances of the case, their sentence is reduced to one year," the court said.

A bench of Justice BS Chauhan and Justice Dipak Misra, rejected the convicts' claim that they were falsely implicated and no independent witness was present when the trap was laid by the state Anti-Corruption Bureau in November 1994 in Rajasthan's Tonk district.

The trap was laid for the two employees of Sahadat Hospital, Tonk on a complaint by one Rafiq that they demanded Rs100 bribe to issue the discharge slip in favour of his father Deen Mohd who had undergone treatment for a urinary infection.

The trial court on September 7, 2001, imposed a two-year sentence on the two, which was affirmed by the high court on October 12, 2011, following which, they appealed in the apex court. 

"The explanation furnished by the appellants that they had falsely been enroped due to enmity could not be proved for the reason that no evidence could be brought on record indicating any previous enmity between the complainant and the appellants nor any evidence was available to show that the complainant was not satisfied with the treatment given to his father and he could act with some oblique motive in order to falsely implicate the appellants," the bench said.

The apex court said the trial court had rightly appreciated the evidence on record before convicting them and the high court was justified in dismissing their plea. Hence, it said there was no infirmity in the two lower court's findings.

"The courts below considered the facts properly and appreciated the evidence in correct perspective and then reached the conclusion that the charges stood fully proved against the appellants," the bench said.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement