Dissatisfied with the “rats ate the money” explanation, the Supreme Court decided to delve deeper into the case, suggesting a broader investigation into how evidence is stored in police evidence rooms in Bihar, and whether public funds are routinely wasted in the process.
A bench of Justices JP Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan said it was “surprised” by the allegation that currency notes seized in a corruption case were destroyed by rodents and noted that the case would be examined when the main matter is taken up in the final hearing.
“We are surprised that the currency notes were destroyed by rodents. We wonder how many currency notes recovered in this type of crime were destroyed because they are not kept in a safe place. It is a huge loss of revenue for the state,” the council said in a recent order.
The bench added that it was inclined to initiate a broader investigation into evidence management practices in Bihar, an investigation that could have implications far beyond the facts of the current case.
“…The explanation given for the destruction of the notes does not inspire any confidence. We will consider the matter when the main matter comes up for hearing,” the order said.
The court made the remarks while granting bail to a former employee of the Child Development Program who was convicted under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The court suspended her four-year prison sentence and ordered her release on bail, noting that the lower court had initially acquitted her but the Supreme Court overturned that ruling. The committee also noted that one crucial piece of evidence – the alleged bribery money – was no longer available.
The case arose out of a 2019 entrapment operation conducted by the Economic Offenses Unit (EOU) in Bihar, where the accused allegedly requested and accepted… $10,000 as a bribe. The cash was seized, stamped and deposited in the police malkhana as preliminary evidence.
However, during the trial, the prosecution was unable to produce the banknotes. The explanation given was that rodents had invaded the malkhana and destroyed the envelope containing the money.
While the Patna High Court had upheld the conviction last year, relying on documentary evidence such as Malkhana’s record and held that non-production of the seized materials would not in itself demolish the prosecution’s case, the apex court had deemed the current case fit to release the woman on bail.
At the same time, the bench referred to the impugned Supreme Court ruling, which noted that the prosecution had failed to produce the alleged bribe money because the envelope containing the seized money had been destroyed by rats and rodents. “…There is no doubt that the seized money was produced in the Malkhana register, but as a result of the improper condition of the Malkhana and lack of up-to-date filing system, the envelope along with the currency notes was destroyed by rodents,” the high court order said.
The Supreme Court bench stressed that this is “something we should not ignore.” The court decided to investigate the matter further, shifting the spotlight from an individual prosecution to a systemic concern on whether evidence rooms, especially in states like Bihar, are equipped to securely preserve seized materials, and whether lapses in storage could undermine criminal trials while also causing loss to the public exchequer.
