JUDGMENT

The appellant herein was a civilian in the Air Force. He had worked as a temporary accountant in the canteen attached to the Thiruvananthapuram unit of the Air Force. After his retirement in October 2000, he was appointed as a temporary staff on daily wages to assist the main accountant in the Unit Run Canteen. On the complaint of one Dileep Kumar, who was employed on daily wages in the Unit Run Canteen of the Thiruvananthapuram Air Force, that the appellant demanded an amount of ₹15,000/- as illegal gratification for making him permanent, the Kochi Wing of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a crime against the appellant. A trap was accordingly arranged by the officer of the CBI, and the amount of ₹12,000/- brought by the complainant Dileep Kumar was received as per mahazar for trap purposes. After demonstrating phenolphthalein test, Dileep Kumar was instructed by the CBI officer to handover the phenolphthalein tainted currency of ₹12,000/- to the appellant at his office. Accordingly, the complainant, along with another public servant arranged by the CBI officer to witness the trap went to the office of the accused on 8.3.2001 and paid the amount. Within no ti