IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF ANDHRAPRADESH AT HYDERABAD HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU CRIMINAL APPEAL No.655 of 2004 DATE: 27.04.2011 Between: State : A.C.B rep. by Inspector of Police, Anti-Corruption Bureau, Karimnagar …… Appellant And A.Rajaram ...Respondent HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU CRIMINAL APPEAL No.655 of 2004 JUDGMENT : This is an appeal against acquittal. The respondent/accused was working as senior assistant in Zilla Parishad at Karimnagar during the relevant period. In C.C. No.19 of 1999 before the Principal Special Judge for S.P.E and A.C.B cases, Hyderabad, charges were framed against him for the offences under Sections 7 and 13(1)(d)/13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (in short, the Act). By judgment dated 31.07.2003 the lower Court found him not guilty of both the charges. 2) P.W-1’s father Kanaparthy Narasimha Rao worked as S.G.B.T teacher in upper primary school, Chintakani village of Kataram Mandal. He took voluntary retirement on medical grounds in July, 1993. Therefore, P.W-1 was seeking employment in Zilla Parishad on compassionate grounds. In the year 1993 itself when P.W-1’s father took voluntary retirement on medical grounds, employment was sought for P.W-1 in his place. The said employment application of P.W- 1 was pending since the year 1993. Originally P.W-1 passed only 10th class and was eligible for appointment as record assistant. Subsequently he passed his intermediate course and become eligible for appointment as junior assistant. Therefore, P.W-1 gave Ex.P-1 application dt.17.08.1997 to the Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad, Karimnagar. D.W-1 was the then Superintendent in Zilla Parishad office at Karimnagar. The application of P.W-1 as kept pending in that office due to want of BC-B vacancy as per roaster. Therefore, P.W-1’s application was in lie-over position in that office. 3) It is the prosecution case that when a junior in application was given compassionate appointment by Zilla Parishad authorities, P.W-1 approached the accused who was in-charge of A-3 section in that office and made enquiries about his job and that the accused demanded Rs.40,000/- from P.W-1 to get job and that the accused threatened P.W-1 saying that if the said amount is not paid he would put some query or the other on his application and see that he would not get job and that when P.W-1 meet the accused at his residence on 20.11.1997, the accused reduced demanded bribe to Rs.35,000/- and instructed P.W- 1 to pay Rs.25,000/- on 23.11.1997 and to pay remaining amount of Rs.10,000/- in a week thereafter. P.W-1 met P.W- 5 the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Anti Corruption Bureau (A.C.B), Karimnagar and gave Ex.P-2 report on 23.11.1997. On the same day, P.W-5 arranged trap for the accused. P.W-3 is one of the mediators for Ex.P-3 pre-trap mediators’ report and for Ex.P-4 post trap mediators’ report. When P.W-1 met P.W-2 on his way to A.C.B office, P.W-2 accompanied P.W-1 to that office. P.W-5 employed P.W-2 as accompanying witness to P.W-1 during the trap. P.W-2 was working as head master in Zilla Parishad High School at Chintakunta village. After P.W-1 paid M.O-1 tainted cash of Rs.25,000/- to the accused at his house, P.W-2 went out and gave pre arranged signal to the raid party who rushed into house of the accused and seized M.O-1 cash from the accused. 4) In Ex.P-4 post trap mediators’ report, immediate version of the accused was recorded. The said version was also stated by P.W-3 and P.W-5 in their evidence. The said spontaneous statement of the accused is relevant under Section 8 of the Evidence Act. It is stated in Ex.P-4 that when P.W-5 questioned the accused, the accused stated that he accepted the amount which was kept by P.W-1 on the teepoy before him and that the said amount was not taken as bribe and that P.W-2 borrowed Rs.25,000/- as hand loan at the time of his daughter’s marriage during summer of 1997 and that P.W-2 asked P.W-1 to give the said amount to him and that on the said instructions of P.W-2, P.W-1 gave the amount to him and he accepted that amount. The accused came up with this loan theory at the inception itself. P.W-2 in his cross- examination admitted that he performed marriage of his daughter on 01.06.1997. But P.W-2 denied the suggestion that he borrowed Rs.25,000/- from the accused. Apart from the contents of Ex.P-4, there is evidence of P.Ws 1 and 2 to prove the accused lending Rs.25,000/- to P.W-2. It is contended by the Special Public Prosecutor that without there being any chit or pronote, the accused would not have lent such huge amount of Rs.25,000/- to P.W-2. P.W-2 in cross-examination admits that the accused was his classmate in his school days and that he has got acquaintance with the accused even as Z.P. employee. Lending of money by one classmate to another for the auspicious purpose of daughter’s marriage even without there being a piece of paper evidencing the same, is believable. In fact, D.W-1 was cited as one of the prosecution witnesses in the charge-sheet. But, for the reasons best known to the prosecution, he was not examined for the prosecution. In his evidence, D.W-1 stated that on 01.06.1997 he attended marriage of P.W-2’s daughter at N.G.O function hall, Karimnagar and that the accused also attended the said marriage and that prior to the said marriage P.W-2 requested him (D.W-1) and the accused for advancing hand loan of Rs.25,000/- on the ground that the marriage was fixed in short notice, and that he told P.W-2 about his inability to lend the said amount, but the accused promised to arrange the amount in two or three days and that the accused handed over the said amount during lunch hour when he was sitting at his table along with D.W-2 and that P.W-2 promised to repay the said amount in one month, but did not repay. D.W- 2 worked as senior assistant in the office of E.E, R.W.S division, Manthani. Zilla Parishad, Karimnagar was his head office. He says that on 24.05.1997 while he was at Z.P. office, Karimnagar, P.W-2 asked D.W-1 for hand loan of Rs.25,000/- to meet expenses of his daughter’s marriage and that D.W-1 expressed his inability and that P.W-2 asked the accused for the said hand loan and that the accused gave hand loan of Rs.25,000/- to P.W-2 and asked P.W-2 to repay the hand loan amount within one month and that no document was written in between P.W-2 and the accused evidencing the said transaction. When the transaction of hand loan was between two employees working in the same office and between two classmates, absence of documentary proof for the hand loan cannot be a circumstance to disbelieve the hand loan. The lower Court rightly believed the plea of hand loan put forward by the accused. 5) According to the accused, there were differences between P.W-2’s brother Damodar Reddy and mentor of the accused by name Rajeshan Goud and because of the said differences in politics, the accused was implicated in this false trap. Both Damodar Reddy and Rajeshan Goud belonged to Telugu Desam Party and both of them worked as ministers in the State Government at one time or the other. At the relevant time, Damodar Reddy was M.L.A and Rajeshan Goud was Zilla Parishad Chairman. Due to group rivalry within the same party, there was staging of Dharna by one leader at the house of another leader as is evident from Ex.D-5. The accused belongs to the same caste as that of and is stated to be related to Rajeshan Goud. It is contended that because of the said bitter differences between the two leaders, at the instance of P.W-2, the accused was implicated in a false trap through P.W-1. The lower Court found favour with this contention also. After all, the accused was working in clerical cadre as senior assistant. He was not the appointing authority in his office. Admittedly there are hierarchy of staff and officers above him. P.W-1 in cross- examination admits that above the accused there is superintendent and above him there is Deputy C.E.O and above him there is C.E.O and ultimately there is Z.P. Chairman. As senior assistant, the role of the accused was only to put up a note on the application of P.W-1 and forward the same to the Superintendent. For doing the said official favour of processing application of P.W-1, one cannot expect to pay huge sum of Rs.25,000/- as bribe. It is not the prosecution case that the accused was collecting the said amount of Rs.25,000/- on behalf of the appointing authority. As per the prosecution case, the accused demanded and received the said amount for processing application of P.W-1 for employment. The alleged bribe of Rs.25,000/- for doing a trivial official favour is really disproportionate. In those circumstances, the lower Court rightly came to the conclusion that payment of Rs.25,000/- by P.W-1 to the accused in the presence of P.W-2 was nothing but a loan repayment as spontaneously pleaded by the accused at the time of post trap proceedings. On examination of the entire evidence on record and reasoning of the lower Court, I am of the opinion that finding of not guilty arrived at by the lower Court is reasonable and justified. There are no circumstances to arrive at a different conclusion in this appeal. 6) Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed. _______________________________ SAMUDRALA GOVINDARAJULU, J April 27, 2011 ksh