India, March 17 -- Over three-and-a-half decades after a petty bribery case began, the Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of a former Uttarakhand excise constable but reduced his sentence.

A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and PB Vrale was hearing the plea of the former constable against the 2012 order of the High Court of Uttarakhand quashing his appeal against a trial court's order of sentencing him to two years of rigorous imprisonment under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act provision.

In an order dated March 13, the bench said there was no error in the High Court's decision upholding the trial court's order of sentence and conviction but the official, who was now 75 years of age, had already been incarcerated for over two m...