SUBHASH CHAND Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is directed against the judgment dated 29th July 2008 passed by the Special Judge in CC No. 14 of 2001 convicting the Appellant for the offences under Sections 7 and 13 (1) (d) read with Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 ("PC Act") and the order on sentence dated 31st July 2008 whereby for each of the offences under Section 7 and Section 13 (2) of the PC Act the Appellant was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment ("RI") for two years and a fine of Rs.4,000 and in default to undergo simple imprisonment ("SI") for 2 months with both sentences being directed to run concurrently.

(2.) The case of the prosecution is that the Appellant was a Junior Engineer ("JE") working in the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) which had awarded the work for renovation of the outer surface of the Mayur Bhawan Building to ACON Construction India Private Ltd. ("ACON") of which Ashok Kapoor (PW-8) was a Director. According to the prosecution, the work which was for total value of Rs.23,97,655 was to be completed within 9 months. By November 1999 half of the work was completed and sum of Rs.11 lakhs was paid by then to the ACON. PW-8 had submitted a further bill for the sum of Rs.1,75,000 which was pending clearance with the Appellant whose job was to supervise the work, measure the work done by the contractor on a day to day basis, make an entry in the measurement book ("MB") and verify the bills submitted in the first instance.

(3.) PW-8 met the Appellant on 24th December 1999 in connection with the said bill. According to PW-8, the Appellant demanded a bribe of Rs.7,000 for clearing the bill. PW-8 expressed his inability to pay the amount due to paucity of funds. On 28th December 1999 at around 11 am PW-8 met the Appellant who again asked about the bribe amount. PW-8 told him that he could pay the amount only after the bill was cleared. The Appellant is then stated to have asked to be paid half the bribe amount prior to the bill being cleared. PW-8 then asked the Appellant to approve the bill and stated that he would return after sometime after arranging half the amount as demanded. The Appellant is stated to have agreed and asked PW-8 to come with Rs.3,500 by the evening and to pay the balance after the bill was cleared.