S N BOSE Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is the accused awaiting his trial before the Special Judge at Patna in Special Case No. 33 of 1969. His prayer in the present application is that the prosecution which is pending against him should be quashed. THE prosecution is in respect of offences under Section 161 of the Penal Code and Section 5 (2) read with Section 5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, said to have been committed by the petitioner in March. 1964.

(2.) AT the relevant time the petitioner was the Assistant Medical Officer in the Railway Hospital at Gaya. One Doman Ram was a Khalasi working under the Inspector of Works at the same station. It is alleged that the petitioner had demanded and received Rs. 2 from the said Khalasi as illegal gratification for treating him for dysentery and stomach pain and that subsequently the petitioner had demanded and received Rs. 5 from him as illegal gratification for giving him a fitness certificate,

(3.) THE main contention of Mr, B. C. Ghose who appears in support of this application is that in view of the decision of the Supreme Court referred to above a fresh prosecution of the petitioner with the previous sanction of the Railway Board is not justified. It is pointed out that the Supreme Court had merely set aside the conviction that had been recorded against the petitioner on the earlier occasion and had not directed a xetrial. THErefore. a fresh trial will mean an undue harassment to the petitioner who has been under suspension for nearly nine years now since 1964. Mr. Ghose has further argued that amount constituting the alleged illegal gratification was too trivial for an officer like the petitioner, who was then drawing a salary of about Rs. 600 per month, and it may well be that the Supreme Court did not give any direction for retrial of the petitioner in view of the provisions contained in Sub-section (3) of Section 4 of the Act which reads: