Gujarat High Court
AKBAR S. SARELA,B. R. SOMPURA
Manshanker Prabhashanker Dwivedi - Appellant
Versus
State of Gujarat - Respondent
Criminal Appeals Nos. 486 and 555 of 1966
Decided On : 09/09/1968
Prevention of Corruption Act 1947 - Section 5 - Public Servant - Demand and acceptance bribe - - Argument as regards Section 161 Indian Penal Code is that offence that section relates to a public servant who attempts to obtain or obtains a bribe and one necessary ingredients offence is that he does so as a motive or reward for doing or forbearing to do any official act or for showing or forbearing to show in exercise his official function favour or disfavor to any person – Held, prosecution has proved that there has been an abuse of position as a public servant on the part of accused No. 1. The argument is similar to the one advanced in respect of Section 161 of the Indian Penal Code. The argument is this. The accused No. 1 did not cease to be a Government servant while he was working as an Examiner. In fact he could not have worked as Examiner but for the permission given to him as a public servant and therefore, there was some connection, however, indirect, between his office as a public servant and his work as Examiner. His abuse of his position as Examiner would be an abuse of the permission given to him by the Government as Examiner, that is to say, it is argued, it would amount to an abuse of permitted use of his office and if that is so he must be said to have abused his position as a public servant– Appeal allowed
SARELA, J . :- The appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 486/66, Manshankar Prabhashankar Dwivedi (hereinafter referred to as accused No. 1), was at the relevant time a senior Lecturer at the D. K. V. College, Jamnagar, which is a Government College. The appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 555/66, Vallabhdas Gordhandas Thakkar (hereinafter referred to as accused No. 2) was a legal practitioner taking Income-tax and Sales-tax cases. He also resided at Jamnagar. In April 1964 the Physics Practical Examination for F.Y.B.Sc. equivalent to Inter Science was to be held by the Gujarat University and one of the centres was Surendranagar. The accused No. 1 had been appointed as the Examiner for Physics Practical. It is in respect of that examination that he is alleged to have accepted a gratification of Rs. 500/- other than legal remuneration for showing favour to one candidate Jayendra Jayantilal by giving him more marks in the said examination. It was alleged by the prosecution that he obtained that sum through accused No. 2 on 27-4-1964. Therefore, the charge against accused No. 1 was under S. 161, Indian Penal Code and Section 5(2) read with Section 5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and the charge against accused No. 2 was under Section 165-A of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 read with Section 114 of the Indian Penal Code. Both these charges against both the accused have been found proved by the learned Special Judge, Surendranagar, who by his judgment and order dated 27-5-1966 convicted them of these offences and sentenced each of them to rigorous imprisonment for two years and a fine of Rs. 1000/- in default of payment of which to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for six months. Against those convictions and sentences these appeals have been filed.
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31. For these reasons we agree with the learned Special Judge that the prosecution case against the accused in respect of the demand and acceptance of bribe of Rs. 500/- for the purpose of giving more marks to Jayendra has been made out.
32. It is argued on behalf of the accused that even if the prosecution case as to demand and acceptance of the bribe is held to be established, neither Section 161, Indian Penal Code, nor Section 5(1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act would be attracted in this case. The argument as regards Section 161, Indian Penal Code, is that the offence under that section relates to a public servant who attempts to obtain or obtains a bribe and one of the necessary ingredients of the offence is that he does so as a motive or reward for doing or forbearing to do any official act or for showing or forbearing to show in the exercise of his official function favour or disfavour to any person. Therefore, the necessary ingredients are firstly that the person is a public servant and secondly that the act which is a reward or favour was in the matter of doing any official act or done in the exercise of official functions. In this case, it was argued, accused No. 1 was no doubt a public servant in the sense that he was in the Government service as a senior Lecturer in a Government College, but the bribe in this case was obtained not in connection with any official act or in connection with exercise of his official functions as such servant but in connection with his work as an Examiner of the Gujarat University. As such Examiner he was not a public servant because he was appointed as such Examiner independently of his being Government servant in a Government College and was being paid by the Gujarat University fees for the work done for that University. It has nothing to do with his being a Government servant. It was conceded that if even as an Examiner he was a public servant then as this bribe was obtained for giving more marks it would be in connection with an official act or in exercise of his o
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