NIRANJAN PATNAIK Vs. SASHIBHUSAN KAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A peculiar feature of this appeal by special leave is that it is not. an appeal against conviction or against acquittal but one preferred by a prosecution witness for expunction of several highly derogatory remarks made against him by a learned Judge of the High Court of Orissa while allowing Criminal Appeal No. 31 of 1982 on the file of the High Court of Orissa. Shri Niranjan Patnaik, the appellant before us was examined as P. W. 8 in the trial of T. R. Case No. 6 of 1980 on the file of the Special Judge (Vigilance), Sambalpur against the first respondent. The trial ended in conviction against the first respondent and when the appeal filed by him came to be heard by the High Court the appellant had become a Cabinet Minister in the State of Orissa. On account of the disparaging remarks made by the Appellate Judge the appellant tendered his resignation and demitted office for maintaining democratic traditions. It is in that background this appeal has come to be preferred.

(2.) Pursuant to a trap laid by the Vigilance Police on the complaint of the appellant's Manager, Gopi Nath Mohanty (P. W. 2) the first respondent was arrested on 26-4-79 for having accepted a bribe of Rs. 2,000/- from Gopi Nath Mohanty. The marked currency notes M. Os. V to XXVI were recovered from the brief case M. O. II of the first respondent prior to the arrest. The prosecution case was that the first respondent had been extracting illegal gratification at the rate of Rs.1,000/- per month during the months of January, February and March, 1979 from Gopi Nath Mohanty but all of a sudden he raised the demand to Rs. 2,000/- per month in April 1979 and this led to Gopi Nath Mohanty laying information (Exhibit I) before the Superintendent of Police (Vigilance). Acting on the report, a trap was laid on 26-4-1979 and after Gopi Nath Mohanty had handed over the marked currency notes the Vigilance party entered the office and recovered the currency notes from the brief case and arrested the first respondent. The first respondent denied having received any illegal gratification but offered no explanation for the presence of the currency notes in his brief case.

(3.) Eleven witnesses including the appellant who figured as P. W. 8 were examined by the prosecution and the first respondent examined three witnesses D. Ws. 1 to 3 to substantiate the defence set up by him, viz., that the sum of Rs. 2,000/- had been paid by way of donation for conducting a drama and publishing a souvenir by the Mining Officers' Club and also towards donation for Children's Welfare Fund. The Special Judge accepted the prosecution case and held the first respondent guilty under S. 5(2) read with S. 5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act') and S. 161 of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter referred to as the 'Code'). The Special Judge awarded a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for one year for the conviction under the first charge but did not award any separate sentence for the conviction under S. 161 of the Code.