Jabalpur, Sep 30 After a three-decade-long legal battle, a former Patwari (revenue department officer) accused of accepting a Rs 300 bribe got relief on Wednesday when the Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed the government's appeal against his acquittal by the district court.
A single bench of Justice Sanjay S Kalgaonkar dismissed the state government's appeal and upheld the lower court's order acquitting the petitioner.
If the trial court's finding is reasonable and based on evidence, the acquittal should not be interfered with, observed the HC.
The case dates back to 1996, when Lokayukta personnel (state's anti-corruption ombudsman) caught Munna Lal, the then-Patwari of Khurai area in Sagar district, on October 17 while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 300 in exchange for issuing duplicate land rights and loan books.
The Lokayukta took the action against the revenue department official on the complaint of a local resident, Veer Singh.
Munna Lal was booked for corruption and a case was filed against him by the government in the Sagar district court, which subsequently acquitted him in December 1997.
The government filed an appeal in the Jabalpur HC in 1998 against the district court's acquittal of Munna Lal.
During the HC hearing, the single bench observed that the prosecution was required to convincingly prove that the alleged bribe was demanded and accepted illegally.
The HC noted that the original recording of the bribe demand was not verified in the district court, the accused's voice was not identified, and sufficient evidence of the recording's completeness and accuracy was not provided.
It stated that the transcript could therefore not be considered reliable.
The bench noted that, according to revenue records, the complainant, Veer Singh, owed the government Rs 325 plus interest.
It stated that witnesses and documents suggested the possibility that the Rs 300 recovered (from the accused) could have been related to the payment of government dues.
The bench found several significant inconsistencies in the statements of the complainant, including that the alleged bribe demand was stated to be Rs 450 and Rs 500 on different occasions.
The HC noted that the complainant provided conflicting statements regarding the presence of the individuals in whose presence the bribe was demanded.
The court stated, "The mere recovery of the bribe amount and the phenolphthalein (chemical) test do not establish the crime of demanding or accepting a bribe. If the trial court's finding is reasonable and based on evidence, the acquittal should not be interfered with."
With these observations, the single bench dismissed the government's appeal in the bribery case.
