₹300 bribe: Why did Jharkhand High Court grant clemency to accused in 1993 corruption case

The Jharkhand High Court granted clemency to Samir Kumar Choudhary, a man accused of demanding a ₹300 bribe in a 1993 corruption case. According to Live Law, the Single Judge Bench of Pradeep Kumar Srivastava decided to reduce Choudhary's sentence due to his lengthy trial and the relatively small amount involved in the bribe. The court acknowledged that Choudhary had already served a significant portion of his punishment, including one month and one day in custody, and had paid a provisional bail amount of ₹5,000.

The court also noted that Choudhary had no prior criminal record and had undergone sufficient punishment already. Despite these factors, the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 states that the accused would typically serve a minimum sentence of six months. However, the court reduced Choudhary's sentence to the time he had already served, along with a fine and conditional fine for confirmation of provisional bail.