The Supreme Court has sentenced a 74-year-old retired public servant to jail in a 19-year-old bribe case involving a sum of Rs20,000. The guilty official, Kl Bakolia, was director Administration of the prestigious Delhi-based Indian Agricultural Research Institute. As he was tasked with managing the security of the institute, Bakolia had demanded a bribe from the security service provider to renew their annual contract. The CBI laid a trap on receiving a complaint from one Shamsher Singh, owner of Colonel Security Services, who paid Rs20,000 to the accused official.
The apex court was fully convinced on the guilt of Bakolia but on the question of sentence, adopted leniency in reducing his four-year sentence to one-year. “Keeping in view the passage of time and that the appellant is now aged seventy four years, in our view, while upholding the conviction of the appellant, interest of justice would be met by reducing the sentence of rigorous imprisonment of four years to one year rigorous imprisonment,” said a bench of Justices TS Thakur and R Banumathi.
The Court found no fault in the evidence linking the accused with the crime. The complaint alleged that Bakolia initially demanded Rs50,000 but agreed on Rs20,000 after the complainant expressed inability to pay such a large sum. He was in no mood to pay as he had an existing service contract from 1993-96 and had outstanding dues against the Institute.
A two-piece recorder consisting of a recording device, mic-cum-transmitter and an audio cassette was fitted in the pocket of the complainant. The currency notes treated with phenolphthalein were handed to the accused, which sufficiently proved the crime. In addition, the recorded conversation further nailed the guilt of the officer, enough for the trial court, Delhi High Court and finally the apex court to link to the crime.