By IANS,
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Monday dismissed a head constable’s plea for suspension of a two-year jail term awarded to him by a lower court in a 2006 bribery case and directed him to surrender before it.
Justice Hima Kohli said: “The petitioner is directed to surrender before this court as soon as possible.”
The court gave the ruling while rejecting an application of Sukhbir Singh, a Delhi Police head constable then working in east Delhi’s Geeta Colony police station.
Sukhbir Singh approached the high court with a plea for suspension of his sentence till the disposal of his appeal against the lower court’s verdict. The court admitted his appeal challenging his conviction.
“…he might have been involved in this type of cases earlier. Hence, the court must show extra caution while suspending sentence in a case of corruption,” said the court.
The lower court Jan 27 convicted Sukhbir Singh and Jan 29 passed an order against him to remain in jail for two years. The court imposed a fine of Rs.6,000 on him for taking a bribe of Rs.5,000 from a man.
Sukhbir Singh was arrested Sep 8, 2006, by the anti-corruption bureau while taking the bribe. The bribe was offered for not registering a first information report against the bribe-giver despite a woman’s complaint against him.
“In this process, the entire legislative purpose of punishing a corrupt stands defeated. It is quite evident that the evil of corruption is eating into vitals of the social fabric and…eroding the confidence of the public servants,” the court said.