The obligation to impose a discretionary punishment on one who takes a bribe

Question : Or accepts a bribe in his judgment. What does it mean to accept a bribe?

Answer : It means he takes a bribe in his judgment, meaning he does not rule except if he is bribed. Likewise, the government employees who do not process people’s affairs except for a bribe; these people must also be given a discretionary punishment, because in this situation the interests of the people are obstructed. And the one who offers a larger bribe gains the benefit. So if we know that this employee takes a bribe, whether he says to the one with the right, “I will not give you your right except for so much and so much,” or it is known from the circumstances that he is doing so, such that he keeps postponing him, saying “come tomorrow, come the day after tomorrow,” and we know that he did not do so except for the sake of the bribe, then this person is also given a discretionary punishment and penalized.