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{{Short description|Indian official accused of bribery}}
{{Orphan|date=December 2025}}

'''Jageshwar Prasad Awasthi''' (born {{circa|1941}}) is an Indian former transport corporation employee best known for being at the center of one of the country's longest-running [[bribery]] trials. Accused in 1986 of demanding a [[Indian rupee|₹]]100 (approx. [[United States dollar|$]]1.3) bribe while working as a billing assistant, he spent nearly four decades in [[legal proceeding]]s before the [[Chhattisgarh High Court]] acquitted him in 2025.<ref name="r843">{{cite web | last=Dwary | first=Anurag | title=After 39 Years, Chhattisgarh High Court Acquits Man In Rs 100 Bribery Case | website=www.ndtv.com | date=2025-09-19 | url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/after-39-years-chhattisgarh-high-court-acquits-man-in-rs-100-bribery-case-9307190 | access-date=2025-10-01}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Awasthi was born in 1942 in Govindarajnagar, a locality in [[Raipur]], [[Chhattisgarh]]. He is married with four children.<ref name="r571">{{cite web | last=Bharat | first=ETV | title=39 साल बाद 100 रुपए के रिश्वत केस में 'बाइज्जत बरी', अब सरकार से बकाया रकम दिलाने की मांग, 4 दशक में परिवार बर्बाद | website=ETV Bharat News | date=2025-09-27 | url=https://www.etvbharat.com/hi/!state/raipur-100-rs-bribe-case-jageshwar-prasad-awadhia-story-chhattisgarh-news-cts25092605235 | language=hi | access-date=2025-10-01}}</ref>

=== Legal proceeding ===
The case relates to an incident purportedly dating back to 1986, in which Awasthi was accused of demanding a bribe of ₹100 from an employee, Ashok Kumar Verma, purportedly to clear arrears.<ref name="n887">{{cite web | last=Rajappan | first=Sumi | title=Chhattisgarh High Court acquits man in Rs 100-bribery case after 39 years | website=India Today | date=2025-09-25 | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/chhattisgarh-high-court-acquits-man-rs-100-bribery-case-after-39-years-2792891-2025-09-25 | access-date=2025-10-01}}</ref>

A trap operation was reportedly arranged by the then Lokayukta, using currency notes coated with [[phenolphthalein]] (a chemical marker used to detect handling). Awasthi was alleged to have been caught in possession of the marked notes. In 2004, a lower court convicted him, sentencing him to one year in prison, finding evidence of his demand of the bribe.<ref name="r843"/>

After years of appeals and legal delays, the Chhattisgarh High Court, in a judgment delivered in September 2025, fully acquitted Awasthi. The court's ruling underscored that the mere recovery of tainted currency is insufficient to establish guilt without clear proof of intent, demand, or acceptance.<ref name="r843"/>

According to the high court, there was no independent [[witness]] who could [[testify]] to the demand or acceptance of the money. A "shadow witness" admitted to neither hearing the conversation nor seeing the transaction.<ref name="r843"/>

Government witnesses present during the trap were positioned some distance away (20–25 yards), which, the court observed, made it improbable that they could reliably observe the transaction.<ref name="r843"/>

Awasthi's defense contended that at the time of the alleged incident, he had not been authorized to pass bills; that authority had been granted later.<ref name="r843"/>

After the court observed deficiencies, the High Court concluded that the [[prosecution]] had not met the burden of proof, declaring that the trap operation had failed and overturning the conviction.<ref name="r843"/>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Awasthi, Jageshwar}}
[[Category:Bribery scandals]]
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]

{{India-law-bio-stub}}

Jageshwar Prasad Awasthi - Revision history

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