SHAIK MUZAFFAR Vs. STATE ACB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellant was convicted for the offences under Ss. 7 and 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (for short 'the Act') and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year under both counts, vide judgment in C.C.No.35 of 2007 dtd. 10/10/2012, passed by the Principal Special Judge for SPE & ACB Cases, City Civil Court, Hyderabad. Aggrieved by the same, present appeal is filed.

(2.) Briefly, the case of the prosecution is that the complainantPW1, had applied for a white ration card at DPL Centre No. 115 two months before filing the complaint and was allotted D.F. No. 299228, vide Regd. No. 3071. Revenue officials visited P.W.1's residence about a month before the complaint to verify eligibility. Since then, PW1 had been in contact with the In-Charge of DPL Centre. According to PW1, on 14/5/2006, when he approached the appellant, who was the Senior Inspector in the office, requesting the issuance of a white ration card, appellant allegedly demanded Rs.1,000.00, which was later reduced to Rs.800.00. Since P.W.1 was unwilling to pay the bribe, he, along with PW2, approached the D.S.P, A.C.B, on 15/5/2006, at 4:00 PM, and lodged a written complaint (ExP2), signed by P.W.2.

(3.) Upon receiving the complaint, P.W.8/Dy. Superintendent of Police, ACB, after due verification, registered a case in Crime No. 16/ACB-CR/2006 under Sec. 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act on 17/5/2006 at 10:45 AM and took up the investigation. During the investigation, PW8 secured the presence of mediators P.W.5 and L.W.8 and laid a trap against appellant on 17/5/2006, following all legal formalities. The pre-trap proceedings were recorded in Ex.P7 (First Mediator's Report).