'Rats Ate Bribe Money': Bihar Official Gets Supreme Court Relief

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the conviction of a Bihar government officer found guilty of accepting a bribe, after expressing astonishment that the seized currency notes at the centre of the case had been eaten by rats, according to the prosecution's own record.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan granted bail to Aruna Kumari, who had been serving as a child development programme officer, and stayed her conviction. The Supreme Court said the matter would be heard in detail on a later date.

"We were astonished to learn that the currency notes were destroyed by rats," the bench said. "This constitutes a significant loss of revenue for the state and raises questions regarding such incidents."

The explanation offered for the destruction of the notes did not appear credible, the court said.

Kumari had been accused of demanding a bribe of Rs 10,000. A case was filed against her under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The trial court had acquitted her, but the Patna High Court overturned that verdict and sentenced her to imprisonment.

The high courts had acknowledged in its own ruling that the seized currency notes could not be produced as evidence because they had been destroyed by rats, but held that an entry in the property room register recording the deposit of the bribe money was sufficient to sustain the conviction. The mere absence of the physical notes did not weaken the prosecution's case, it said.

The Supreme Court has now stayed that finding pending a fuller hearing.