IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD R/CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 543 of 2008 FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:

HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO Sd/-

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Approved for Reporting Yes No 

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STATE OF GUJARAT Versus ASHOKBHAI MANILAL SHAH ==========================================================

Appearance:

MR. ADITYA JADEJA, APP for the Appellant(s) No. 1 MR BOMI H SETHNA for the Opponent(s)/Respondent(s) No. 1 ==========================================================

CORAM:HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO Date : 10/02/2026 ORAL 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 judgment and order of acquittal dated 10-07-2007 passed by the learned Special Judge & Presiding Officer, Fast Track Court No. 7, Rajkot (herein after referred to as ‘the learned Trial Court’) in Special (ACB) Case No. 5 of 1994, whereby, the learned Trial Court has acquitted the respondent from the offences punishable under Sections 7, 13(1) (d) and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (herein after referred to as the “ the PC Act).

1.1] The respondent is hereinafter referred to as ‘the accused’ as he stood in the 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] The accused – Ashok Manilal Shah, at the relevant point of time was a public servant serving as a Government Labour Officer, Class-II – had visited the establishment of M/s. Raghavji Kanji & Company situated at Luhana Mahajanwadi, Rajkot, in the course of his official duties under the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948, and upon inspecting the attendance sheet, attendance register, overtime register, attendance cards and other statutory records, found that the said establishment had failed to maintain the mandatory documents as required under law, whereupon the accused issued a show cause notice calling upon the concerned persons to explain as to why penal action should not be initiated against them for such statutory violations. It is the specific case of the prosecution that it came to the knowledge of the Police Inspector Praveenchandra Harjivandas Ganatara in connection with the said notice, the accused demanded an illegal gratification of Rs.2,500/- from M/s Raghavji Kanji & Company for each lapse detected by him with an assurance that on payment of the said amount the matter would be settled and no legal proceedings would be initiated, while threatening that in the event of non- payment a case would be lodged against the complainant. After negotiations the amount was allegedly settled at Rs.2,500/-, pursuant to which, a decoy trap was arranged by Praveenchandra Harjivandas Ganatara, Police Inspector, ACB, Rajkot, after following the requisite legal formalities, including recording the serial numbers of the currency notes intended to be used as bribe money, demonstration of the use of anthracene powder through experiments, preparation of the preliminary panchnama, and conducting the introduction parade of the raiding party, panch witnesses and the complainant, whereafter the complainant along with the panch witness proceeded to the office of the accused. The decoy handed over the tainted currency notes of Rs.2,500/- to the accused, which the accused accepted and placed in the drawer of his table, upon which the predetermined signal was given, and immediately the panch witness and the raiding party including the PI, ACB, Rajkot, entered the office of the accused, and on inquiry the panch witness narrated the entire sequence of events, whereafter the bribe amount was recovered from the drawer of the accused and upon examination under ultraviolet light the presence of anthracene powder was detected on the hands of the accused, and the serial numbers of the recovered currency notes were tallied with thos