JAGDISH PRASHAD Vs. STATE OF HARYANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant was tried for committing the offences punishable under Section 7 read with Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') for demanding and accepting Rs.600/ - as illegal gratification from complainant Ram Bhagat. Vide judgment and order dated 29.4.2002, the Special Judge, Sirsa held him guilty for the aforementioned offences and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/ - and in default of payment of fine, to undergo further imprisonment for a period of six months. Hence, the present appeal.

(2.) THE facts of the prosecution case, in nutshell, are that the land belonging to the complainant, situated in village Rajpura Sanghi was transferred in the command area, pursuant to the order of the Divisional Canal Officer, which was confirmed by the Superintending Canal Officer. As Form -A was to be verified by the Superintending Canal Officer, the complainant was required to contact the appellant, who was posted as Division Head Draftsman. The former met him a couple of times but the latter kept on putting him off. Ultimately, the appellant demanded a sum of Rs.600/ - from the complainant for getting Form -A verified from the Superintending Canal Officer. On 26.5.1997, the complainant appeared before DSP Ganga Ram and apprised him of all the facts. DSP asked the complainant to bring a witness with him. Accordingly, the complainant took his friend Inder Singh with him to the residence of the DSP, where Ashok Bhadu, DETC, Sirsa and Sanjeev Kumar, Excise Inspector, were present. The DSP recorded statement Ex.PE of the complainant and sent the same to Police Station City, Sirsa for registration of the case. The complainant produced six currency notes of the denomination of Rs.100/ - each before the DSP, which were taken into possession vide recovery memo. Ex.PG. The DSP put his initials 'GR' and applied phenolphthalein powder on the notes, which were, thereafter, handed over to the complainant with a direction to deliver them to the appellant on demand. Inder Singh was deputed to act as a shadow witness. At the time of raid, the police party, including Ashok Bhadu and Sanjeev Kumar stayed in the premises of Hindustan Petrol Pump, Sirsa, which was near the office of Superintending Engineer, Irrigation Department, Sirsa. On getting a signal from Inder Singh, the raiding party went to the office of the appellant and introduced itself to the appellant. In the meantime, Wazir Chand Goyal, XEN also reached there. The DSP conducted the search of the appellant, which led to recovery of six tainted currency notes from the left pocket of his shirt. The DSP then dipped the hands of the appellant in a solution of sodium carbonate and the colour of the solution turned pink. The hand wash of the complainant was also done and the colour of the solution turned pink. The solutions were put in separate nips and taken into possession. The shirt of the appellant was got removed and taken into possession. The DSP prepared rough site plan of the place of recovery and recorded the statements of witnesses and arrested the appellant.

(3.) IN support of its case, the prosecution examined 13 witnesses. DSP Inder Dutt, while appearing as PW1, deposed that on 1.7.1997, he recorded the statements of the prosecution witnesses and obtained sanction for prosecution of the appellant. Subsequently, he presented the final report under Section 173 Cr.P.C. against the appellant. PW2 Giani Ram, Assistant Revenue Clerk, proved Ex.PA, which was given by the complainant for conversion of his land into command area. Scaled Site Plan Ex.PB was proved by PW3 Constable Subhash Chander. PW4 Head Constable Sita Ram and PW5 Head Constable Om Parkash tendered in evidence their affidavits Ex.PC and PD, respectively. PW6 SI Tara Chand testified about recording the formal FIR Ex.PE/1 on receipt of ruqa Ex.PE. PW7 Harmesh Lal, P.A. to General Manager, Irrigation Department, Chandigarh proved the sanction order Ex.PF. PW8 Ashok Bhadu, PW10 Ram Bhagat, complainant, PW11 Inder Singh, shadow witness and PW12 DSP Ganga Ram supported the prosecution case on all material points. While PW 9 Madan Lal proved the posting order of the appellant Ex.PM. and copy of the first page of his service -book Ex.PN. PW13 Satbir Singh, Clerk proved sanction order Ex.PT issued by the Engineer -in -Chief, Irrigation Department, Haryana. Report of Forensic Science Laboratory Ex.PS was tendered in evidence by the Public Prosecutor.