LAXMAN PRASAD Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Laxman Prasad, who, on the day of laying trap was holding the post of Station House Officer, Police Station Sawar (District Ajmer), has assailed in this appeal his convictions & sentences imposed by the trial Court, under Sec. 161, IPC, & S. 5(1) (d) read with Sec. 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. He has been sentenced to undergo one year's RI with a fine of Rs. 300.00 (in default, 2 month's RI), under each count. Both the substantive sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

(2.) To begin with, I feel it necessary to give a resume of the prosecution case before I proceed to examine whether or not the inferences drawn by the trial Court from the facts on record are legally correct & lead to only one hypothesis, namely that the accused is guilty.

(3.) It appears that an F.I.R. was registered at P.S. Sawar (Ajmer) upon a report lodged by Padam Singh of village Sadari, against present decoy, Sangram Singh, for offences punishable under Sections, 323, 324, & 452, IPC. The case was being investigated by the present appellant. According to the impugned complainant (Ex. P. 1) lodged in by Sangram Singh with the Anti-Corruption Department, the decoy (Sangram Singh) was granted pre-arrest bail in the said case by the Sessions Judge, and while furnishing bail bonds in deference to the pre-arrest bail order, the appellant is alleged to have accepted Rs. 200.00 as bribe for his release but, demanded further amount of Rs. 800.00 as bribe for helping him in the case and trying to get him discharged of an offence punishable under Sec. 452, IPC, by deleting that section and to which, the decoy is alleged to have expressed his inability to pay such a huge amount and, therefore, the deal was struck at Rs. 400.00 with the stipulation to accept it in two instalments, first before and second after the work to be executed.