Overview
- Granting interim relief in an April 24 order, a bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan suspended the Patna High Court sentence and ordered Aruna Kumari’s release on bail subject to trial-court conditions.
- The bench said the claim that seized currency was destroyed by rodents did not inspire confidence and warned that such losses amount to a huge revenue loss for the State.
- Kumari, a Child Development Programme Officer in 2014, was acquitted at trial but convicted by the Patna High Court in February 2025 under Sections 7 and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act for an alleged ₹10,000 bribe, drawing terms of four and three years of rigorous imprisonment.
- The High Court noted the cash could not be produced because rodents destroyed it in the police malkhana, which is the store for seized property, and it relied instead on entries in the malkhana register to uphold guilt.
- The Supreme Court said it will examine the missing-evidence issue at final hearing, a move that could drive stricter chain-of-custody rules and better storage practices in corruption and financial-crime cases.