K.G STEPHENA Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The revision petitioner is the first accused in the case C.C.No.6/2015 pending in the Court of the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Thiruvananthapuram.

(2.) There are three accused in the above case. The first accused was the Block Scheduled Caste Development Officer at Chavara and the second accused was a Clerk in the office of the District Scheduled Caste Development Office at Kollam. The third accused is a private person. He was the Principal of Axis Parallel College.

(3.) The prosecution case, in short, is as follows. On 01.12.2003, the third accused submitted 35 forged applications for granting educational concession which was intended for parallel college students who belong to scheduled castes and other eligible communities. The applications were forwarded to the District Scheduled Caste Development Office by the then Chavara Block Scheduled Caste Development Officer. The amount sanctioned was ordered to be distributed to the eligible students. A specific order was given by the District Scheduled Caste Development Officer to the first accused that the amount shall be disbursed to the students only in the presence of a representative from the District Office and that the original eligibility certificate, hall ticket and mark list etc in respect of the students shall be verified at the time of disbursing the amount. However, the first and the second accused, in pursuant to a conspiracy hatched with the third accused, disbursed an amount of Rs.1,55,515/- to the third accused, without verifying the details regarding the students who were eligible to get the amount and without ascertaining their identity. Thus they allowed the third accused to get undue pecuniary advantage. Therefore, it is alleged that the accused committed the offences punishable under Section 13(1)(c) read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (for short 'the Act') and also under Sections 420, 468, 471 and 120B of the I.P.C.