SCC 485 , the Hon'ble Supreme Court was dealing with a criminal appeal filed in the year 2014, arising out of an incident alleged to have taken place on 21.12.1984. The appellant in the aforesaid case had been trapped while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 265.00 and he had been convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one-and-ahalf years and with a fine of Rs. 5000.00. The Hon'ble Supreme Court held that the long delay before the courts in taking a final decision with regard to the guilt or otherwise of the accused is one of the mitigating factors for the superior courts to take into consideration while taking a decision on the quantum of sentence. The Court further observed that the appellant was aged about 76 years, the offence was of the year 1984 and three decades had elapsed since then. Hon'ble the Supreme Court observed that "whether at this age and stage, it would not be economically wasteful and a liability of the State to keep the appellant in prison, is the question we have to address."
