Retired Railway Clerk Bribe Case: The Special CBI Court in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow on Thursday (February 2) sentenced an 82-year-old retired railway clerk to one year imprisonment in a 32-year-old bribery case of Rs 100. Along with this, a fine was also imposed on the elderly.
According to news agency PTI, Special CBI court judge Ajay Vikram Singh refused to show any leniency on the convict Ram Narayan Verma. The convict had pleaded for concession in the sentence citing his old age. The judge said that doing so would send a wrong message to the society. The court imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the convict Ram Narayan Verma.
‘One year’s imprisonment will serve the purpose of justice’
Verma pleaded before the judge that the incident had happened 32 years ago and in this case he had spent two days in jail before being released on bail. He argued that his sentence could be limited to the period already spent in jail.
Rejecting the plea of the convict, the judge said that keeping in view the amount of bribe, the nature of the offense and other factors, a jail sentence of two days is not sufficient in this case and one year’s imprisonment would serve the ends of justice.
What is the case of Rs 100 bribe?
In 1991, Ram Kumar Tiwari, a retired loco driver of Northern Railway, lodged an FIR with the CBI in this case. Tiwari had alleged in the FIR that his medical test was necessary for the purpose of calculation of his pension. Verma had asked for a bribe of Rs 150 for this work. Later he asked for 100 rupees. The CBI had arrested Verma red-handed with the bribe money. The CBI had filed a charge sheet against Verma after completing its investigation. The court had framed charges on Verma on 30 November 2022.
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