Virendra Gahwai, Bilaspur. After death, the bank manager was freed from the charge of taking bribe. In the case that lasted for 22 years, the wife of the bank manager along with her sons fought the case in the High Court and won. The bank manager was accused of taking bribe in lieu of giving loan for digging borewell under the government scheme. Also read: High Court held that the widowed daughter-in-law is entitled to maintenance from her father-in-law, the order of the family court was upheld…
In fact, Rajendra Kumar Yadav, a resident of Durg, was working as a branch manager in the Bemetara branch of Agriculture and Land Development Bank in the year 2000-01. During this time, farmer Dhirendra Kumar Shukla, a resident of village Eramsahi Navagarh block, applied for a loan under the government scheme for digging a borewell in the name of his father Rajendra Narayan Shukla. On this application, branch manager Rajendra Kumar Yadav asked to deposit a processing fee of Rs 526. On this, the farmer complained to Lokayukta Raipur about the branch manager demanding bribe.
On the complaint, Lokayukta sent the complainant to the bank manager with the chemical-coated currency in May 2001 and trapped and detained the branch manager. In this case, the special judge in January 2003 sentenced the branch manager to 6 months imprisonment and a fine of Rs 500 under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and 1 year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 500 under section 13 (D) 1. The branch manager appealed against this decision in the High Court. While the appeal was pending, the appellant branch manager died.
After the death of her husband, wife Uttam Kumari Yadav along with her sons Prashant Yadav and Nishant Yadav took the case forward. After 22 years, the final hearing on the appeal was held in the High Court in August. The High Court found in the case that the complainant had paid Rs 526 as processing fee to the appellant. The trap team said that four currency notes of Rs 100 each were seized from his pocket.
During the hearing, it came to light that the team had taken out 7-8 currency notes from the pocket of the appellant. The number of the notes given as bribe is also not recorded. The appellant said in his defence that the complainant had paid the processing fee, for which he was also given a receipt. The said receipt was also presented in the case. After the hearing, the High Court has acquitted the bank manager of the charge of taking bribe and rejected the decision of the lower court.
