The New Indian Express ·
Jharkhand HC upholds conviction of 75-year-old in 1995 Rs 100 bribery case
RANCHI: A 1995 case involving a Rs 100 bribe remains unresolved after 31 years, with the Jharkhand High Court upholding the conviction of a former railway parcel clerk but reducing his sentence to the minimum prescribed punishment.
Kali Shankar Dhobi, then a parcel clerk at Hatia Railway Station, will now have to return to jail at the age of 75.
Delivering the verdict on September 9, Justice Pradeep Srivastava held that there were no grounds to interfere with the conviction. However, the court reduced the sentence considering the more than three-decade-long legal process, Dhobi’s advanced age and age-related ailments, and the fact that it was his first offence.
The court cancelled his bail and directed him to surrender within two months, warning that strict action could be taken if he failed to do so.
“At this juncture, it is also to be taken into consideration that the occurrence has taken place in the year, 1995, and the case was decided by learned trial court in the year, 2004 i.e. after lapse of 9 years and this appeal is also pending for more than two decades. The appellant has now attained the age of 75+ and suffering age related illness. It was the first offence of the appellant and he has also been dismissed from his service,” stated the court order.
Therefore, minimum sentence prescribed for the offences charged against the appellant would meet the ends of justice in this particular case, it said.
The court order further added, “Accordingly, sentence of imprisonment awarded by learned trial court to the appellant for the offence under section 7 of P.C. Act, R.I. of 1 year is reduced to S.I. of 6 months and for the offence under section 13(1)(d), R.I. of 1 ½ years is reduced to S.I. of 1 year.”
The court said there would be no interference with the fine amount, which had already been deposited by the appellant. Both sentences will run concurrently.
The case dates back to April 27, 1995, when Dhobi was employed as a parcel clerk at Hatia Railway Station. He was accused of demanding a Rs 100 bribe to book a motorcycle to Samastipur in Bihar through parcel. The prescribed railway fee for the service was Rs 203 at the time.
Following a complaint, the CBI laid a trap and, according to the allegations, caught Dhobi accepting the bribe on April 27. A case was subsequently registered against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The trial took nearly nine years to conclude. In 2004, the lower court convicted Dhobi and sentenced him to one year of rigorous imprisonment under Section 7 and one-and-a-half years under Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Dhobi later appealed against the verdict in the Jharkhand High Court. The appeal remained pending for more than two decades, during which he lost his government job and grew significantly older.