IMPORTANT POINT
The judgment underscores the high standard of proof required in criminal cases, emphasizing the presumption of innocence and the burden on the prosecution to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

JUDGMENT :

1. This appeal has been filed by the appellant State under Section 378(1)(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 against the judgement and order of acquittal passed by the learned Special Judge, Fast Track Court No. 3, Valsad (hereinafter referred to as “the learned Trial Court”) in Special Corruption Case No. 24 of 2002 on 30.11.2005, whereby, the learned Trial Court has acquitted the appellant for the offence punishable under Sections 13(1)(d) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereafter referred to as “the PC Act” for short).

The respondent is hereinafter referred to as the accused as he stood in original case for the sake of convenience, clarity and brevity.

2. The brief facts that emerge from the record of the case are as under:

2.1 That the accused was working as a Custom Sipahi in the office of the Custom Inspector, Umarsali in the year 1997 and was a public servant. That the complainant Jayantibhai Ramubhai Mangela residing at Umarsali, Mangelwadi, Taluka Pardi, District Valsad was a fisherman and his brothers-in-law Babubhai Govindbhai Mangela and Bavabhai Govindbhai Mangela were also fishermen and Babubhai Govindbhai Mangela had purchased a boat named “Jayvantiprasad” from one Chandrakant Gajanand Tandel of Dahanu, Maharashtra. That the boat was given to the complainant and his brother-in-law Bavabhai Govindbhai Mangela and they had gone to the Umarsali Port and permission to keep the boat from 05.05.1997 to 05.10.1997 was given. That the complainant had gone with the necessary documents including the Port Clearance Certificate to get the season pass and at that time, the employee who was present had checked the documents and made the entry of the boat “Jayvantiprasad” in the Register. That immediately, an amount of Rs. 250/- for entry and Rs. 100/- for the season pass was demanded and the complainant told the employee to give the receipt for the amount but the employee got angry and refused to give the receipt and cancelled the entry in the Register. That the employee demanded the amount of Rs. 350/- and stated that only if the amount of Rs. 350/- was paid, the entry would be made and the season pass would be issued otherwise a report would be sent to the Dahanu Port that the entry is not made. That the custom employee told the complainant to pay the amount on 08.09.1997 between 11.00 am to 04.00 pm and as the complainant did not want to pay the amount of illegal gratification of Rs. 350/-, the complainant went to the ACB Office at Valsad and filed the complaint which was registered at C.R. No. 7/1997 under Sections 13(1)(d) and 13(2) of the PC Act. That the Trap Laying Officer called the panch witnesses and explained about the effects of anthracene powder and the ultraviolet lamp and after the experiment was conducted, the complainant gave the amount of Rs. 350/- which were three currency notes of the denomination of Rs. 100/- each and one currency note of the denomination of Rs. 50/- and the currency notes were laced with anthracene powder and the trap was arranged. That the complainant along with the shadow witness went to the office of the accused and in the presence of the shadow witness, the accused demanded for the amount of illegal gratification and accepted the tainted currency notes from the complainant and after the predetermined signal was given, the members of the raiding party came and caught the accused red handed with the tainted currency notes. The Investigating Officer recorded the statements of all the connected witnesses and drew the necessary panchnamas and after the order of sanction for prosecution was received, the charge-sheet was filed against the accused before the Sessions Court, Valsad which came be registered as Special Corruption Case No. 24/2002.

2.2 The accused was duly served with the summons and the accused appeared before the learned Trial Court, and after the procedure under Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was followed, a charge at Exh.