IMPORTANT POINT
The necessity of proving both the demand for a bribe and the complainant's legal standing in property disputes under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

JUDGMENT :

K. Surender, J.

1. The appellant was convicted for the offence under Section 7 and 13(1)(d) r/w 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year under both counts vide judgment in C.C.No.26 of 2007 dated 30.04.2009 passed by the Additional Special Judge for SPE & ACB Cases, City Civil Court, Hyderabad. Learned Special Judge found him guilty for demanding and accepting bribe of Rs.4,000/-.

2. Briefly, the case of P.W.1 is that he inherited Acs.3.10 guntas of land at Adibatla village after the properties were shared amongst four brothers. Since partition was done, for the purpose of fixing boundaries to his property, P.W.1, who is the complainant approached the MRO office on 30.08.2006 and submitted an application Ex.P2 along with challan Ex.P3. MRO/P.W.5 endorsed on the said application Ex.P3 as “Surveyor, pl get it surveyed urgently”. The appellant did not give any receipt on that day but asked PW1 to take photocopy of the application which is with the endorsement of the MRO. Appellant demanded an amount of Rs.5,000/- for the purpose of giving notice to other pattadars and to do survey. Again P.W.1 met the appellant on 11.09.2006 and the appellant insisted on the bribe, however, reduced the bribe amount to Rs.4,000/-.

3. Aggrieved by the persistent demand of bribe by the appellant, P.W.1 approached the ACB authorities, after drafting complaint Ex.P1 with the help of his son. Having received the complaint on 11.09.2006, P.W.1 was asked to come on 13.09.2006 with the bribe amount. The proceedings started at 7.00 a.m. on 13.09.2006 and the formalities before proceeding to lay a trap were followed by the DSP in the presence of the other trap party members. Ex.P5 pre-trap proceedings were drafted before proceeding to the office of the MRO to handover bribe when demanded by the appellant.

4. The trap party approached the office around 9.00 a.m. and P.W.1 went inside. The appellant was sitting along with two persons and after they left, appellant asked whether bribe amount was brought. The amount was handed over by PW1 to the appellant, which was kept in his shirt pocket; P.W.1 signalled to the trap party intimating acceptance of bribe by the appellant. The trap party entered into the room where the appellant was sitting and confronted regarding acceptance of bribe. According to mediator and DSP, initially, the appellant stated that P.W.1 offered the amount which was kept in his left shirt pocket and again stated that the amount was forcefully thrust into his shirt pocket though he resisted.

5. The hands of the appellants were tested and right hand turned positive and left hand tested negative for the test. The amount was handed over to the trap party. Appellant was asked to give the application filed by P.W.1, however, on searching the almirah, the application was not found. P.W.3 another clerk also searched but the application could not be traced. Then P.W.1 produced photocopy of the application stating that he had taken the photocopy after the MRO endorsed on it to the appellant. Having concluded the formalities during post-trap proceedings, the proceedings were concluded and Ex.P11 was drafted.

6. The Investigating Officer examined witnesses, obtained sanction and filed charge sheet after completion of investigation. The prosecution examined witnesses PWs.1 to 8 and marked Exs.P1 to P15. On behalf of the defence, DWS.1 & 2 were examined and two documents Exs.D1 & D2 were marked. Having considered the evidence on record, the Special Judge convicted the appellant.

7. Learned counsel appearing for the appellant would submit that firstly, no proof is filed by P.W.1 to show that he was in possession of Acs.3.10 gutas after the property was partitioned in between the brothers. In fact, Ex.D1 is the certified copy of the sale deed which reflects that all the brothers sold Acs.18.10 guntas to M. Vijay Bhaskar Reddy on 29.04.1987 under registered sale deed and it was ac