Case Facts:
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Criminal Miscellaneous No.48862 of 2008 ============================================== Dayanand Prasad son of late Bibhudeo Narayan Sinha, resident of Village-Charuipar, Police Station-Noorsarai, District – Nalanda. .... .... Petitioner Versus 1. The State Of Bihar. 2. B.D.O. Noor Sarai, P.S.-Noor Sarai, District-Nalanda. .... .... Opposite Party/s ============================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner : Mr. Bhola Prasad, Adv. Mr. Raj Kishore Prasad, Adv. For the State : Mr. Jharkhandi Upadhyay, A.P.P. ============================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJENDRA KUMAR MISHRA ORAL ORDER 4 23-02-2012 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned A.P.P. for the State. This application is directed against the order dated 15.10.2008, passed in Noorsarai P.S. Case No. 136 of 2008, G.R. No. 1509 of 2008 by Sri S.K. Sinha, Judicial Magistrate, 1st Class, Biharsharif, taking cognizance of the offence under [STATUTE] . In brief, the case is that on the basis of the letter no. 573 dated 01.07.2008 of the District Magistrate, Nalanda, addressed to the Block Development Officer, Noorsarai for lodging a case, Noorsarai P.S. Case No. 136 of 2008 was instituted Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.48862 of 2008 (4) dt.23-02-2012 2/4 under [STATUTE] on 08.07.2008 against the accused-petitioner. It is alleged in the letter which is the basis of First Information Report that Rs. 500/- is being demanded by the pensioner for releasing the pension and also to open the account, for which the complaint was made by the villagers and, on enquiry by the Assistant Director, Social Security on 08.05.2008, it was found that the post master of post office- Charuipar, Dayanand Prasad (petitioner), has taken the illegal money from the poor people for opening the account and also for payment of the pension. The police, on investigation, submitted charge-sheet under [STATUTE] . Thereafter, the learned Magistrate on perusal of the charge-sheet and the case diary took the cognizance of the offence under [STATUTE] in addition to [STATUTE] through the impugned order dated 15.10.2008. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of petitioner submits that the learned Magistrate has illegally took the cognizance of the offence under [STATUTE] , which has been deleted through the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Act No. 49 of 1988). It has also been submitted that as far as the offence under Section 384 of the Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.48862 of 2008 (4) dt.23-02-2012 3/4 Indian Penal Code is concerned, several villagers, not having their account, in the post office, have send the letter to the District Magistrate, Nalanda, forwarding the copy to the other officials making allegation with respect to the accused-petitioner. As such, the petitioner has been falsely implicated in this case only with ulterior motive, which would appear from Annexure-2 to this application. On perusal of the provisions of [STATUTE] , it appears that aforesaid sections have been repealed by the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (Act No. 49 of 1988). As such, the impugned order dated 15.10.2008 taking cognizance of the offence under [STATUTE] against the petitioner is illegal. As far as the impugned order taking cognizance of the offence under [STATUTE] is concerned, it appears from the impugned order that on perusal of the case diary the learned Magistrate took the cognizance under [STATUTE] against the petitioner. Apparently, there is no illegality in the impugned order dated 15.10.2008 taking cognizance of the offence under [STATUTE] . Accordingly, the impugned order dated 15.10.2008 taking cognizance of the offence under Sections 162 and 163 of Patna High Court Cr.Misc. No.48862 of 2008 (4) dt.23-02-2012 4/4 the Indian Penal Code is hereby quashed and this application is allowed to that extent. As far as the offence under [STATUTE] is concerned, the trial will continue and the petitioner would be at liberty to raise his defence at appropriate stage in trial Court. Safik/- (Rajendra Kumar Mishra, J)

Applicable IPC Section: 163

Statute Text:
Section 163 of the Indian Penal Code. Taking a gratification for the exercise of personal influence with a public servant. Repealed by the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988