The Delhi high court has set aside a 2002 verdict convicting two engineers of the city government’s flood control department for accepting ₹1,800 in bribes from a contractor’s employee in 1991, holding that the trial court had ruled against them on the basis of “unsatisfactory evidence”. Justice Chandrashekharan Sudha said it could only be held that the trial court went wrong in relying on the aforesaid unsatisfactory evidence to conclude regarding the guilt of the accused persons (HT File Photo/Shruti Kakkar) In a 48-page judgment, justice Chandrashekharan Sudha said the material on record was insufficient to establish their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. “Suspicion, however strong, cannot take the place of proof. Therefore, I find that the appellants/ A1 (Assistant Engineer VK Datta) and A2 (Junior Engineer Dinesh Garg) are entitled to the benefit of doubt. In such circumstances, it can only be held that the trial court went wrong in relying on the aforesaid unsatisfactory evidence to conclude regarding the guilt of the accused persons,” the court held in its verdict of April 2. …