Delhi HC grants relief to 90-year-old in four-decades long corruption case

Mr. Jindal
3 Min Read

The Delhi High Court has granted relief to a 90-year-old man involved in a 1984 corruption case by reducing his sentence to a day, noting that the delay was “plainly at odds” with the constitutional mandate of a speedy trial under Article 21.

Taking the analogy of ‘Sword of Damocles’, Justice Jasmeet Singh said the uncertainty over the man’s fate for a period of about 40 years by itself was a mitigating factor.

“At 90 years age, suffering from serious health ailments, he is highly vulnerable to the physical and psychological impact of incarceration. Any such imprisonment would risk causing irreversible harm and would defeat the very objective of mitigating the sentence,” the judge in the July 8 order. “This is a fit case for reducing the quantum of sentence of the appellant considering the mitigating circumstances. Hence, the sentence of the appellant is reduced to the time already served,” the court said.

The court said the incident took place in January 1984 with the proceedings continuing for four decades, with the trial taking nearly 19 years to conclude, and the appeal remaining pending for over 22 years.

The man was stated to be a former senior officer of State Trading Corporation of India.

He did not challenge his conviction after being found guilty of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC which will remain with him for his entire life, the court said.

Surendra Kumar, who was a chief marketing manager, was arrested in the case in 1984 over the allegations of demanding ₹15,000 in bribe from a firm partner.

Mr. Kumar was released on bail shortly after his arrest but was convicted in the case in 2002.

In 2002, he filed an appeal against the trial court’s order sentencing him to three years imprisonment and ₹15,000 fine.

The High Court also observed the convict had deposited the fine imposed by the trial court in 2002.

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