JUDGMENT

ANIL R. DAVE, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. Being aggrieved by the Judgment and Order passed in Criminal Appeal No.765 of 2000 by the Madras High Court, the appellant has approached this Court by way of this appeal. By virtue of the impugned judgment, the High Court has confirmed the Order of conviction dated 25th August, 2000, passed by the First Additional District Judge-cum- Chief Judicial Magistrate, Karur, whereby the appellant has been convicted under the provisions of Section 7 and Section 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, (hereinafter referred to as `the Act') sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of Rs.1,000/-, in default, to undergo simple imprisonment for two months for each of the offences and ordered both the sentences to run concurrently.

3. The facts giving rise to the said criminal case in a nutshell are as under:

i) On 11th March, 1991, the premises of Hotel Aristo Restaurant at Karur had been raided by the officers of the Commercial Taxes Department (Enforcement Wing) and as a result of raid, it was found that a fraud was committed in relation to payment of tax. Upon detection of t