New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed surprise over rodents destroying currency notes, which were allegedly seized from the possession of an accused in a corruption case filed in Bihar.
A bench of Justices JP Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan, which asked how many currency notes are being destroyed because they are not kept in a safe place, termed it as a “huge loss of revenue” for the state.
The case came before the court while hearing a request submitted by a woman who was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison in a corruption case.
The woman, who was working as a child development program employee at the time in 2014, allegedly requested and accepted $10,000 bribe from the complainant.
The Supreme Court, which had earlier exempted her from surrendering until further order, granted her bail and stayed the ruling passed by the Patna High Court.
“We have also noticed something which we should not ignore,” the bench said, referring to a paragraph of the Supreme Court judgment in February last year, which had recorded that the seized currency notes had been destroyed by rats and rodents due to the improper condition of the malkhana.
“We are surprised that the currency notes were destroyed by rodents. We wonder how many currency notes recovered in this kind of crime were destroyed, as they are not kept in a safe place. It is a huge loss of revenue for the state,” the Supreme Court said in its April 24 order.
She said that the explanation given for the destruction of the banknotes did not inspire confidence.
The bench said that it will consider the issue when the main matter comes up for hearing.
The Supreme Court was hearing the petition submitted by the woman to challenge the Supreme Court ruling that convicted her in the case. The court indicated that the court of first instance acquitted the petitioner of all charges, after which an appeal was filed before the Supreme Court.
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