judgement
Subject : Criminal Law - Corruption
The case involved a Forest Section Officer, referred to as AO1 (Accused Officer 1), who was accused of demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹5,000 from a complainant, Mukka Ramesh (PW-1). The prosecution alleged that AO1 and a co-accused, AO2 (Accused Officer 2), had threatened PW-1 with a case for the illegal possession of teakwood in his saw-mill and demanded a monthly bribe (mamool) of ₹5,000 to refrain from taking any further action.
The defense counsel, Shri
The prosecution, represented by the learned standing counsel, argued that AO1 had first imposed an unwarranted fine of ₹50,000 on PW-1's saw-mill and then demanded a monthly bribe of ₹5,000, threatening to harm his business.
The Supreme Court, after a thorough examination of the evidence, found that the prosecution had failed to bring home the charges against AO1 by leading evidence that could be termed "unimpeachable." The court noted several discrepancies and contradictions in the prosecution's case:
The Supreme Court, in its judgment, held that the prosecution had failed to prove the factum of demand of bribe against AO1 by reliable direct or circumstantial evidence. The court also found that the allegation of acceptance of bribe by AO1 was primarily based on the evidence of PW-1 and PW-2, which was not corroborated by independent witnesses.
Consequently, the Supreme Court quashed and set aside the impugned judgments of the trial court and the High Court, and acquitted AO1 of the charges. The court observed that the prosecution case was "full of embellishments contradicting and doubting" and that it would not be safe to convict AO1 for demanding and accepting the bribe money from PW-1.
#SupremeCourt #AntiCorruption #ForestOfficer #SupremeCourtSupremeCourt
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