PTI

New Delhi, May 29: More than 20 years after he was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25, the Supreme Court has acquitted a clerk of the charge. 

"As the evidence produced by the prosecution has neither quality nor credibility, it will be unsafe to rest conviction upon such evidence," a vacation bench comprising justices V S Sirpurkar and R M Lodha said while acquitting A Subair, an LDC at the sub-regional transport office in Kerala.

Subair was caught under the Prevention of Corruption Act by vigilance department officials on April 24, 1989 after he allegedly demanded and accepted a bribe of Rs 25 from complainant Manaf who had come to the office for official work.

A Thiruvananthapuram court convicted and sentenced him to six-months imprisonment and the Kerala High Court confirmed the conviction. But the trial lingered for over 15 years in the two courts before reaching the apex court after Subair challenged his conviction.

The apex court after perusal of the various evidence noted that there was nothing on record to prove the guilt of the accused.

Setting aside the order of conviction, the apex court said, "The evidence on record in this case is not sufficient to bring home the guilt of Subair."

The Supreme Court said that the charge of gratification has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt.

"It needs no emphasis that the prosecution has to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt like any other criminal offence and the accused should be considered innocent till it is established otherwise by proper proof of demand and acceptance of the illegal gratification," the bench said.