₹20 Bribe Case Ends After 30 Years: Supreme Court Acquits Two Gujarat Employees
₹20 Bribe Case Ends After 30 Years: Supreme Court Acquits Two Gujarat Employees
New Delhi, Aug 20 : A corruption case which allegedly involved a bribe of only ₹20 has finally come to an end after nearly thirty years, the Supreme Court having acquitted two employees of the Gujarat government and set aside their convictions.
The case originated in February 1996 when a student went to the office of the Bechari Gram Panchayat in the Anand district of Gujarat to apply for an income certificate so as to be able to claim educational concessions.
The prosecution said that a clerk is alleged to have asked for ₹120 to issue the certificate—₹100 for himself and ₹20 for a peon. After a complaint was made, the Anti-Corruption Bureau set up a scheme using forged currency notes.
Yet, only ₹20 was got back from the peon, the other ₹100 never being recovered from the clerk. The student also stated during the cross-examination that the peon had never personally asked him for money.
The bench consisting of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S. Chandurkar held that simply recovering money was not enough to prove corruption unless it could be shown that a bribe had in fact been demanded.
The court also held that the sanction which had been given for prosecuting the clerk had been issued by an officer who was not authorised and was therefore invalid.
If the judgments of the trial court and the Gujarat High Court are set aside, the Supreme Court will acquit both employees and thus bring the remarkable 30-year legal struggle to an end.
[ ₹20 Bribe Case, Supreme Court Verdict, Gujarat Government Employees, Corruption Case, 30-Year Legal Battle, ACB Investigation ]
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