KOCHI: In a twist of fate, the High Court sentenced imprisonment and fine for a former village officer who was earlier acquitted by the vigilance court. He was accused of accepting Rs 1000 as a bribe to inspect the application for land title.

Justice Kauser Edappagath sentenced Wayanad Kanjirangad former Village Officer P.M. Kunjappan(64) to six months in prison with a fine of Rs 10,000 for bribery and another one year in prison and a fine of Rs 25,000 for defamation. As the punishments are concurrent, it is enough to serve just one-year imprisonment. If the guilty fails to pay the fine of Rs 25,000, another four months of imprisonment is on the card.

Kunjappan was arrested on December 5, 2000, on corruption charges. He was assigned to inspect the land by the Mananthavadi Land Tribunal on the application filed by Mathew, a resident of Kanjirangad, for a title deed. Kunjappan demanded a bribe of Rs 3,000 to complete the procedure. He was caught in the act when he took Rs 1,000 which was smeared with Phenolphthalein powder.

Kunjappan advocated that the money was recovered from the office rack and that he was not in the office. Considering the dearth of proper evidence, the Kozhikode vigilance court dismissed the case in favor of Kunjappan. HC opined it was wrong for the lower court to disbelieve the facts including the statement of the complainant.

According to High Court, circumstantial evidence was many in the case and was enough to put Kunjappan in the dock. The accused meanwhile appeared in the court and opened up about the health ailments and the physical difficulties troubling him due to his advanced age. Taking this into account, the sentence was reduced to one year.