Dead clerk held guilty in bribe case

NEW DELHI: Even the dead can’t escape the long arm of the law. The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the conviction of a deceased clerk who was accused of accepting a Rs200 bribe 23 years ago.

With the apex court verdict, not only has Girja Prasad, a small-time clerk at an ayurvedic dispensary in Madhya Pradesh, been unable to erase the stigma of corruption even in death, but his widow has lost post-retirement benefits too. 

A bench of justices CK Thakker and Tarun Chatterjee rejected his widow Munni Bai’s plea to set aside his conviction so that his family could get post-retirement benefits such as family pension.

The Supreme Court bench disallowed it on the grounds that death had saved the accused from serving time in jail.

Munni Bai’s counsel maintained that Prasad had been made a “scapegoat” because no independent witness had corroborated the charge against him in the trial court that acquitted him.

But the state counsel argued that the high court was right in holding that when two views are possible the one that confirms the charge is accepted.

The apex court said once it was proved that Prasad accepted Rs200, it was immaterial whether he was in a position to oblige the complainant or not or whether he had taken the bribe for himself or on behalf of someone else.

It said the trial court was, therefore, not right in acquitting him on the ground that he had accepted the money on behalf of Ramnarain Rajoria, a witness in the case.