Uttar Pradesh: 82-Year-Old Retired Railway Employee Gets 1 Year Jail Term For Taking Rs 100 Bribe In 1991

The retired railway employee was sentenced to a year in prison last week for accepting a bribe in 1991.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹ 15,000 on the convict. (Representative Image)

New Delhi: A special court in Lucknow pronounced its verdict in a 32-year-old bribery case and sentenced an 82-year-old retired railway employee to one year in prison for accepting a bribe of Rs 100.

Special Judge Ajai Vikram Singh, who gave his verdict in the case, refused any leniency with the convict who cited his advanced age to seek lesser punishment, according to the legal news website barandbench.com report. The retired railway employee was sentenced to a year in prison last week for accepting a bribe in 1991.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹ 15,000 on the convict, Ram Narayan Verma.

The Court held that being lenient would send a wrong message to society. Verma pleaded to the Court that the incident took place 32 years ago, and at that time he had spent two days in jail before being released on bail.

The convict insisted that his punishment be restricted to the time he had already spent in jail so that he doesn’t have to serve the remaining sentence.

However, the Court, considering the condition of the convict, the interest of the aggrieved party, and the effect on society, noted that two days' imprisonment was not sufficient. The court held that a year in jail would serve the purpose of justice while rejecting the prayer of the convict.

While sentencing the convict, the Court said it has to consider the condition of the accused, the interest of the aggrieved party, and the effect on society and strike a balance between the three factors.

The First Information Report (FIR) against Verma was filed in 1992 by a retired loco driver of Northern Railways named Ram Kumar Tiwari.  

Tiwari had alleged that after Verma demanded a bribe of Rs 150 from him to conduct a medical test for computing his pension, he paid him Rs 50 and requested a few more days to pay the rest.

But since he didn't want to pay the remaining amount, he decided to lodge the complaint after which Verma was caught red-handed by the CBI accepting the remaining amount of Rs 100.