Delhi high court acquits man 28 years after he was caught red handed on taking a bribe of Rs. 250

New Delhi: At a time when corruptions and scams are taking the nation into its grip, an incident has come into the light which will rather entertain one more instead of being furious. Reportedly, back in 1991, a person named Jagannath, who was a former municipal corporation employee in Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, was caught red-handed by the anti-corruption branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation. What is more interesting is that Jagannath was caught red-handed while taking a bribe of only Rs.250. 28 years have passed from then and the Delhi high court recently acquitted him of the charge.

Now seventy nine-year-old, Jagannath is only hoping that he gets his gratuity from the civic body. He said, “Even though I have retired in 2002, I am yet to get my gratuity. But I fear that none of the records would be available because records that are 10 years or older are not maintained.”

The sole bread-earner of his family comprised of eight members, Jagannath is suffering much harassment and still insecure and unsure whether he will be able to receive his gratuity as it has already been 17 years since his retirement. Hence, there is much doubt about the whereabouts of his retirement records.

Jagannath was charged of taking a bribe Rs. 250 from a person called Jeet Ram who complained that Jagannath demanded the bribe to release a cow which was impounded by the MCD. Jagannath was employed as a munshi in the municipal corporation department.

The accused was earlier convicted by a trial court in February 2002 and this was also reported by the ACB-CBI that the team had caught him reiterating the demand and accepting the amount. However, they also added that the money was later recovered from him. This led to the suspension of Jagannath for three years.

Notably, Jagannath has a handicapped son in his family and his family had to undergo quite a hard time due to the charges.

Also read: CBI Catches IOC Assam Oil Division (AOD) General Manager While Accepting Bribe