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2026 Supreme(Online)(Chh) 12410

IN THE HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
Rajani Dubey, J
Vijay Kumar Ahir – Appellant
Versus
State of Chhattisgarh – Respondent
CRA No. 534 of 2008

Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Shobhit Koshta
For the Respondents: Shubha Shrivastava

Demand of illegal gratification is a sine qua non for an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Mere recovery of tainted money is insufficient to support a conviction unless demand and voluntary acceptance are proved beyond reasonable doubt through reliable, corroborated evidence.

Headnote:(A) Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 - Sections 7, 13(1)(d) and 13(2) - Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 - Section 374(2) - Conviction for demand and acceptance of illegal gratification - Requirement of proof - Demand of illegal gratification is a sine qua non to prove guilt - Mere recovery of currency notes cannot constitute an offence unless it is proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused voluntarily accepted money as bribe - (Paras 24, 30)

(B) Evidence - Admissibility and Burden of Proof - Electronic records - Transcript of audio recording - Admissibility subject to identification of speaker's voice, proof of record's accuracy, exclusion of tampering, relevance, and presence of necessary certification for electronic records - Failure to produce independent evidence or corroborate testimony of interested witnesses weakens the prosecution case - (Paras 25, 26, 27)

Facts of the case:
An employee was charged with demanding and accepting a bribe for processing a land diversion application. The prosecution alleged that after the initial demand, the complainant recorded the conversation and subsequently handed over currency notes in an envelope to the accused, leading to a trap. The lower court convicted the accused based on the recovery of the tainted money.

Findings of Court:
The prosecution failed to establish the foundational fact of a specific demand for a bribe. Several witnesses corroborated that the diversion application was not pending before the accused at the time of the incident. Further, the trap resulted from a staged process where the complainant was instructed by the investigating team, and no independent evidence corroborated the alleged demand.

Issues: The primary issues were whether the prosecution proved the demand for illegal gratification, whether the electronic evidence was admissible without complying with statutory requirements, and whether the conviction could be sustained solely based on the recovery of money.

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that demand is a foundational requirement for an offence under the Act. In the absence of proof of demand, mere recovery of money is insufficient for conviction. Furthermore, the electronic evidence lacked independent verification, and the testimony of the complainant as an interested witness required corroboration which was absent in this case.

Result: Appeal allowed; impugned judgment set aside; appellant acquitted of all charges.

Table of Content
1. procedural history and factual allegations of bribery under the prevention of corruption act. (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4)
2. arguments regarding the insufficiency of evidence for demand and acceptance of bribe. (Para 5 , 6 , 7)
3. appreciation of evidence, witness credibility, and inconsistencies in the prosecution's trap scenario. (Para 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23)
4. establishing that proof of demand is a sine qua non for conviction under the pc act. (Para 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31)
5. acquittal due to benefit of doubt and procedural compliance with bail requirements. (Para 32 , 33 , 34)

The date when the judgment is reserved	The date when the judgment is pronounced	The date when the judgment is uploaded on the website
		Operative	Full
07.01.2026	19.03.2026	--	19.03.2026

AFR

1. This appeal is preferred under Section 374 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 against the judgment dated 17.11.2015 passed by learned Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988) Dhamtari, District- Dhamtari (C.G.) in Special Criminal Case No. 02/2011, whereby the appellant has been convicted for the offence punishable under Sections 7 and 13 (1) (d) read with Section 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, (for short, “the Act, 1988”) whereby the learned trial Court has sentenced the appellant in the following manner with a direction to run both sentences concurrently:

Conviction	Sentence
U/S 7 Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988	RI for 01 year, pay a fine of Rs. 1000/-, in default, to undergo additional R.I. for 04 months.
U/S 13 (1)(d) read with Section 13(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988	RI for 02 years, pay a fine of Rs. 1000/-, in default, to undergo additional R.I. 04 months.

(Both sentences are directed to run concurrently)

2. The case of the prosecution, as unfolded from the impugned judgment and the records of the case is that the complainant- Rizvwanul Haq had applied to the office of the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue) for diversion of his land Plot No. 872, admeasuring 0.08 hectare situated at Antagarh, District- Kanker (C.G.) for residential purpose. Upon receiving a notice to appear on 02.11.2004, he appeared on the said date in the office and where the Reader/accused of the said office wrote in the back side of notice that for the diversion, premium with penalty deposited by the challan of Rs. 794/- in the bank and along with the copy of the challan, demanded Rs. 500/- for himself and Rs. 1,000/- for the Sub-Divisional Officer, only then would the land diversion order be granted. The accused demanded the above bribe amount from the complainant for diversion of the land and therefore, on 20.12.2004, the complainant Rizvwanul Haq made a written complaint before the Anti Corruption Bureau, Jagdalpur against the appellant. On the basis of written complaint of complainant, tape recorder and cassette were provided to him by the A.C.B. for recording conversation between the appellant and the complainant regarding the demand of bribe and also produced the complaint’s application. A script of the cassette of the conversation demanding bribe was prepared. On the said complaint, an offence under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act was registered and a trap team was constituted and on 23.12.2004 after reaching Bhanupratappur, the complainant was sent to the accused/ Vijay Ahir in the Office of Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue), Bhanupratappur. After some time, the complainant returned and apprised the trap team that the accused was demanding the bribe amount in an envelope. In the presence of witnesses, a separate panchanama was prepared. The complainant was made to take out the tainted currency notes and then the said notes were rubbed it on a plain envelope, thereafter the same was placed inside it and the complainant was carrying the envelope in his shirt pocket before being sent to the accused. After handing over the money to the

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2026 Supreme(Online)(Chh) 12410

IN THE HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPURRajani Dubey, JVijay Kumar Ahir – AppellantVersusState of Chhattisgarh – RespondentCRA No. 534 of 2008

Demand of illegal gratification is a sine qua non for an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Mere recovery of tainted money is insufficient to support a conviction unless demand and voluntary acceptance are proved beyond reasonable doubt through reliable, corroborated evidence.

Cases Referred (2)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
Rajani Dubey, J
Vijay Kumar Ahir – Appellant
Versus
State of Chhattisgarh – Respondent
CRA No. 534 of 2008