The prosecution must prove demand and acceptance of bribes beyond reasonable doubt, particularly in corruption cases, where inconsistencies in evidence can lead to acquittal.

JUDGMENT :

Sarang V. Kotwal, J.

1. Both these Appeals are decided by this common Judgment because they arise out of the same impugned Judgment and order dated 23.02.2016 passed by the learned Special Judge (Anti-Corruption), Pune, in Special Case No.53 of 2015.

2. The State of Maharashtra has preferred the Criminal Appeal No.325 of 2018 against the order of acquittal of the Respondent Sudesh Patil; who was the original Accused No.1. The Criminal Appeal No.157 of 2016 is preferred by Manoj Waghela, who was the original Accused No.2. He was convicted and sentenced by the learned Judge and, therefore, this is an Appeal against the conviction.

3. For the sake of convenience, in the following discussion, Sudesh Patil is referred to as the Accused No.1 and Manoj Waghela is referred to as the Accused No.2 as per their status before the Trial Court.

4. At the conclusion of the Trial, the Accused No.1 was acquitted from the charges of commission of the offences punishable under sections 7, 13(1)(d) r/w. 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as ‘P.C.Act’). The Accused No.2 was convicted for commission of the offence punishable U/s.7 of the P.C. Act and was sentenced to suffer R.I. for three years and to pay a fine of Rs.3000/- and in default to suffer R.I. for three months. The Accused No.2 was also convicted for commission of the offence punishable U/s.13(1)(d) r/w.13(2) of the P.C.Act and was sentenced to suffer R.I. for four years and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- and in default to suffer further R.I. for six months. Both the sentences were directed to run concurrently.

5. The prosecution case is that, PW-1 Tatya Bandal was working with the Railway Police as a police constable. His father Laxman Bandal had retired from the Railway Police as Police Shipai. His pension proceedings were pending for quite some time. The Accused No.2, working as a Senior Clerk in the office of the Superintendent of Police (Railway), Pune, demanded Rs.2000/- for himself and Rs.3000/- for the Accused No.1; who was the Head Clerk in the same department, for sending the proposal of pension by hand to the Audit Department. The complainant-PW-1 did not want to make that payment. Therefore, he approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Pune and gave his complaint. PW-3, the Investigating Officer Pingle arranged to conduct a trap by calling two panchas. The informant was carrying Rs.5000/- in 10 currency notes of Rs.500/- each. The anthracene powder was applied to those notes. The demand was verified in the presence of one of the panchas. The conversation was recorded. After the verification of the demand, the complainant-PW-1 and the panchas-PW-2 again approached the Accused No.2. They went to a canteen. The Accused No.2 accepted Rs.2000/- in those currency notes. The Accused No.2 called the Accused No.1. The Accused No.1 accepted Rs.3000/- from the complainant-PW-1. After that, PW-1 gave a prearranged signal. The raiding party, including the other panchas and PW-3 rushed there and caught both the accused. Their hands and the clothes were examined under the ultraviolet light. Their hands and the clothes were found to have traces of anthracene powder. Accordingly, the F.I.R. was lodged. The investigation was carried out and both the accused faced the trial before the learned Trial Judge.

6. During the trial, the prosecution examined PW-1 Tatya Bandal as the complainant, PW-2 Ajit Nevse as one of the panchas, PW-3 Dhananjay Pingle, P.I., as the Investigating Officer, and PW-4 D. Kanakratnam, as the Sanctioning Officer.

7. The defence of the accused was of total denial. After recording the evidence and hearing the arguments, the learned Judge was pleased to acquit the Accused No.1, but he convicted and sentenced the Accused No.2, as mentioned earlier.

8. PW-1 Tatya Bandal has deposed that, he was working as a Police Constable with the Railway Police. Laxman Bandal was his father. He had retired as Police Shipai from the Railway Police. His proce