After 30 years, SC acquits 2 accused of taking Rs 20 bribe

NEW DELHI: Thirty years after they were accused of taking a bribe of Rs 20 to issue an income certificate, Supreme Court has acquitted two govt employees in a 1996 corruption case in which they were convicted and sentenced to one year's imprisonment by a trial court.A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S Chandurkar held that the govt employees were wrongly convicted in the case as there was no evidence that they had demanded the bribe. The aggrieved employees, now senior citizens, had to fight legal battles for three decades to prove their innocence. They were sacked from govt jobs after conviction."We find on an appreciation of the entire material brought on record by the prosecution that it falls woefully short of proving the charge against both the accused beyond reasonable doubt," the bench said.