Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan) [India], April 7 (ANI): A CBI special court on Tuesday sentenced a former Chief Office Superintendent of the Western Central Railway (WCR), Sawai Madhopur, to five years of rigorous imprisonment in a bribery case.

The CBI court in Jaipur convicted and sentenced Jalandhar Yogi, former Chief Office Superintendent (CoS) of the Office of AEN, Western Central Railways (WCR) in Gangapur City, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, to rigorous imprisonment for five years and imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 in a bribery case, the CBI said in a statement dated April 7, 2026.

According to the CBI, the case was registered on June 16, 2020, after allegations surfaced that Jalandhar Yogi had demanded a bribe of Rs. 11,500 for clearing a pending final bill for work done.

The CBI laid a trap and caught Yogi while accepting Rs. 10,000 as part of the bribe from the complainant. The bribed amount was subsequently recovered from his possession. Following the investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet against the accused on January 8, 2021.

After trial, the Jaipur court convicted the accused and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for five years along with a fine of Rs. 25,000.

The CBI press release said that the court, after trial, convicted and sentenced the accused accordingly.

In a separate development on April 5, the Delhi High Court acquitted two engineers accused of demanding a Rs 1,800 bribe, bringing an end to a 34-year-long legal battle.

The Court held that the prosecution failed to establish the essential element of demand for illegal gratification and extended the benefit of doubt to the accused.

The case dated back to September 20, 1991, when Assistant Engineer VK Datta and Junior Engineer Dinesh Garg were accused of demanding Rs 1,800 and Rs 900 each as a bribe for facilitating the release of alleged pending bills. Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and arrested both officials, who were later convicted by a trial court in 2002. However, decades later, the High Court found serious inconsistencies and gaps in the prosecution's case.

Appearing for the appellants, advocates Sameer Chandra, Vivya Nagpal, Ekansh Bansal, Aryan Tomar, and senior advocate Sunil Dalal, along with his team, argued that the case was fundamentally flawed. They pointed to contradictions in witness testimonies, procedural lapses, and a lack of reliable evidence to establish any genuine demand for a bribe.

The Court noted that official muster rolls unchallenged during trial indicated that both accused were present at a work site at the time the alleged demand was made, casting serious doubt on the prosecution's version.

Further, testimony from a key departmental witness revealed that no payment was actually due to the contractor at the relevant time, effectively removing any motive for seeking a bribe.

Serious doubts were also raised regarding the timeline of events, particularly the registration of the FIR, which appeared to have been recorded at the same time the complainant claimed to have just reached the CBI office. This inconsistency, the Court noted, undermined the credibility of the prosecution's narrative.

Additionally, the prosecution failed to examine crucial witnesses, including the contractor directly involved in the financial transactions. Inconsistent accounts regarding the recovery of the alleged bribe amount further weakened the case.

Reiterating settled legal principles, the Court observed that mere recovery of money is not sufficient to sustain a conviction under corruption laws unless accompanied by clear proof of demand. It emphasised that suspicion, however strong, cannot replace proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Setting aside the 2002 conviction, the High Court acquitted both VK Datta and Dinesh Garg of all charges, directing that they be set at liberty. The verdict closes a prolonged chapter of uncertainty, reinforcing that justice must ultimately rest on firm evidence, not assumptions, even if it takes decades to arrive. (ANI)