In Brief
A public servant was convicted of misappropriating government wages for workers at a Guest House, allegedly claiming disbursements that were never made. The accused argued that a different person named Surendran had received the wages, not the prosecution witness. The Supreme Court, after directing two remands to examine this claim, upheld the conviction. The trial court found the defence certificate identifying the two Surendrans as the same person unreliable, as it was issued on inadequate inquiry. The Court reduced the sentence from two years to one year imprisonment considering the appellant's age (70) and elapsed time, maintaining the conviction's integrity while showing judicial mercy."
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