₹300 bribe: Why Jharkhand High Court pardons accused in 1993 corruption case | Today’s news
Man accused of taking ₹300 bribe was pardoned by the Jharkhand High Court. The corruption case dates back to 1993, suggesting an extremely long process. The complainant accused Samir Kumar Choudhary of demanding money for processing his pension fund contributions, Live Law reported.
Why Jharkhand High Court pardoned accused in 1993 corruption case
Single Judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava observed that the accused had already been sufficiently punished for his guilt and had faced the “agony of the trial” for three decades, hence he decided to reduce the sentence.
The judge took into account several key facts about the appellant in making the sentence, including the relatively small amount involved in the plea, the age of the charge and the absence of any previous offence. He also took into account that the appellant with no previous criminal record had already made a deposit ₹5,000 on bail, apart from undergoing one month and one day in custody.
The August 20 court order said, “The appellant has already undergone the agony of trial for three decades and there is no previous offence. His interim bail was also confirmed on condition of deposit of Rs. 5,000 and the same was also paid. It appears that in total apart from this, the appellant has paid Rs. 0 to 7.0 per day.”
According to the legal protocol, this act is punishable under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, according to which the defendant must serve a minimum sentence of six months. However, the court decided to reduce the sentence, referring to the fact that the applicant had already spent one month and one day in custody and had been sufficiently punished.
Notably, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (POCA) is India’s primary piece of legislation dealing primarily with corruption and bribery, which has been amended from time to time to be more robust and most recently in line with the UN Convention against Corruption.
“The sentence awarded to the appellant is reduced to the imprisonment already undergone along with a fine and a suspended fine of Rs.5000/- imposed on the anticipatory bail certificate,” the court said. Thus, the High Court reduced the 1993 accused’s corruption sentence to time served after recognizing his prolonged trial and lesser offence.
“This appeal is dismissed on its merits with modification in the sentence….The petitioner is on bail, hence he is relieved of the liability for bail,” the order added.
