Bribe of Rs. 265 - CBI Case decided after 30 years - physical incarceration for three months and mental incarceration for thirty years
HE was accused of taking a bribe Rs. 265/- in the year 1984. He was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one and a half years with a fine of Rs. 5,000/- each under the charged Sections, as per judgment of the Sessions Court dated 10.04.2003. Ten years later in 2013, the High Court upheld the order of the Sessions Court. The 'corrupt' Government servant is before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court on Friday partly allowed the appeal observing,
The long delay before the courts in taking a final decision with regard to the guilt or otherwise of the accused is one of the mitigating factors for the superior courts to take into consideration while taking a decision on the quantum of sentence. As we have noted above, the FIR was registered by the CBI in 1984. The matter came before the sessions court only in 1994. The sessions court took almost ten years to conclude the trial and pronounce the judgment. Before the High Court, it took another ten years. Thus, it is a litigation of almost three decades in a simple trap case and that too involving a petty amount.
The appellant is now aged 76. We are informed that he is otherwise not keeping in good health, having had also cardio vascular problems. The offence is of the year 1984. It is almost three decades now. The accused has already undergone physical incarceration for three months and mental incarceration for about thirty years. Whether at this age and stage, it would not be economically wasteful, and a liability to the State to keep the appellant in prison, is the question we have to address. Having given thoughtful consideration to all the aspects of the matter, we are of the view that the facts mentioned above would certainly be special reasons for reducing the substantive sentence but enhancing the fine, while maintaining the conviction.