S.R. CHOWDAIAH Vs. THE STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 11.1.2010 in Spl.Case No.53/2002 on the file Special Judge, Mysore, whereby the appellant/accused has been convicted for the offences punishable under sections 7, 13(1) (d) r/w 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988(for short 'the Act') and has been sentenced to undergo one year imprisonment for the offence punishable under Section 7 and 2 years imprisonment for the offence punishable under Section 13(2) of the Act and to pay fine of Rs.5,000/-.

(2.) The case of the prosecution is that the appellant (hereinafter called as 'accused') was working as Medical Officer at K.R. Nagar General Hospital in Mysore District. The cousin brother of the complainant(PW-1) by name Lakaiah and his wife Rajamma had consumed poison on 5.3.1999. The complainant brought and admitted them in K.R. Nagar General Hospital at about 11.00 p.m. The accused was the duty Doctor. He demanded a bribe amount of Rs.500/- from the complainant for their treatment. He also informed the complainant that if the amount of Rs.500/- is not paid, he would refer the patients to Government Hospital at Mysore. The complainant was not interested to give the bribe to the accused. So he lodged a complaint as per Ex-P1 before the Lokayukta police station, Mysore. On the basis of the complaint, PW-5-Santosh Kumar-Police Inspector Lokayukta police station, Mysore registered Crime No.3/1999 for the offences punishable under Sections 7 and 13(2) of the Act and forwarded the FIR in a sealed cover to the Special Judge, Mysore. Thereafter, PW-5 arranged for trap. He secured the presence of the complainant in the police station and two panchas viz., PW-2- V. Kantharaju, Second Division Assistant working in Minor Irrigation Department, Mysore and PW-3 Seetharama Sharma working in the very same department. The complainant handed over three notes of Rs.100/- denomination and four notes of Rs.50/- denomination amounting to Rs.500/- to PW-5. The notes were handed over to PW-2 to read the number of the notes. PW-3 another pancha noted down the number of all the notes. All the notes were smeared with phenolphthalein powder. The notes were entrusted to the complainant, who kept the same in his pocket. The importance of phenolphthalein test was demonstrated.

(3.) The accused appeared. He denied all the charges levelled against him. He was put on trial. The prosecution in order to prove the charges examined as many as seven witnesses as PW-1 to PW-7, marked Exs- P1 to P12 apart from M.Os.1 to 9. On behalf of the accused, certified copy of the Inpatients Register was marked as Ex-D1. The Special Judge upon hearing the submission made by both the learned counsel and on appreciation of evidence convicted the accused for the offences punishable under sections 7 and 13(2) of the Act and sentenced him to undergo simple imprisonment for one year for the offence punishable under section 7 and two years for the offence punishable under section 13(2) of the Act, apart from imposing fine amount of Rs.5,000/- by judgment dated 11.1.2010.