20 years after granting bail, Delhi High Court upholds conviction of cop in bribery case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) in a bribery case, 20 years after he was granted bail by the High Court (Ram Naresh Tiwari vs CBI). .Single-judge Justice Anu Malhotra upheld a 2001 order of Tiz Hazari court which had convicted ASI Ram Naresh Tiwari for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and sentenced him to three years imprisonment besides fine.The bail granted on May 23, 2001 by the High Court was also withdrawn."There is no infirmity in the impugned judgment convicting the appellant for the commission of the offences punishable under Sections 7 &13(2) r/w Section 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and for the commission of the offences punishable under Section 186, 201 read with Section 511 read with Section 224, 332 & 353 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 as has been rightly held by the learned Special Judge," the Court ordered..By way of a background, the present appeal was filed by Tiwari challenging an order passed by a special judge, Tis Hazari court on April 26, 1996 by which he was convicted for offences under Sections 7 and 13(2) read with Sections 13 (1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.The case against Tiwari was that he had asked for a bribe of ₹10,000 from a man who was suspected of kidnapping a woman's father. The woman had filed a complaint against the man but had withdrawn it later.Despite this, the police officer kept on pressing for the bribe. Finally, a complaint was filed with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by that man and Tiwari was caught red handed accepting bribe in an elaborately laid ambush.Tiwari served 16 days in judicial custody as an undertrial and was later convicted by the trial court under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.The trial court's decision was challenged before the Delhi High Court in 2001 leading to suspension of sentence and bail.The Court on Wednesday upheld the trial court order.The Court also took cognizance of the fact that the convict had undergone 16 days of detention as an undertrial at Tihar Jail in 199. The said period was, therefore, directed to be set off against the sentence.Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi and advocate Atif Shameem represented the convict. Special Public Prosecutor Mridul Jain appeared for the Central Bureau of Investigation..[Read Order]