Summarize the following court judgment. minal Appeal No. 168 of 1959. Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated September 10	 1958	 of the Patna High Court in Criminal Appeal No. 580 of 1953. B. B. Tawakley and R. C. Prasad	 for the appellant. A. K. Dutt and section P. Varma	 for the respondent. April 18. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by RAGHUBAR DAYAL	 J. This appeal	 by special leave	 is against the order of the Patna High Court dismissing the appellant 's appeal against his conviction for offences under section 161	 Indian Penal Code and a. 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act	 1947 (Act 11 of 1947)	 hereinafter called the Act. The appellant was the Construction Engineer at Sindhri. R. B. Basu was a contractor living in Calcutta and carrying on the business of the company named and styled the Hindustan Engineering and Construction Company. The prosecution alleged	 and the Courts below have found	 that the appellant accepted the sum of Rs. 10	000 as illegal gratification from Basu at the Kelner 's Restaurant at Dhanbad Railway Station on July 18	 1951. The Courts disbelieved the appellant 's defence that he had taken the envelope containing this amount not knowing that it contained this amount	 but knowing that it contained papers relating to Basu 's con. tracts. The contentions raised on behalf of the appellant are: (i)that the provisions regarding the presumption contained in section 4 of the Act are unconstitutional; (ii) that the case was tried by the Special Judge who had no jurisdiction to try it; (iii) that there had been no proper corroboration of the statement of Basu about the accused demanding the bribe and accepting the amount as illegal gratification. The Constitutionality of section 4 of the Act was sought to be questioned on the ground that it went against 52 the provisions of article 21 of the. Constitution which reads: "No person shall be deprived	 of his life or personal liberty except;according to procedure established by law. " We do not consider this question to be a substantial question of law for the purpose of article 145(3)	 which lays down that the minimum number of Judges who are to sit for the purpose of deciding any case involving a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution shall be five	 in view of it being held that the word 'law ' in article 21 refers to law made by the State ' and not to positive law. It has been held in A. K. Gopalan vs The State of Madras (1) that in article 21	 the word law ' has been used in the sense of State made law and not as an equivalent of law in the abstract or general sense embodying the principles of natural justice	 and 'procedure established by law ' means procedure established by law made by the State	 that is to say	 by the Union Parliament or the Legislatures of the States	 Section 4 has been enacted by Parliament and therefore it must be held that what it lays down is a procedure established by law. The appellant was tried by the Special Judge of Patna. The offence was committed at Dhanbad	 in Manbhum District. The case was chalanned to the Magistrate at Dhanbad. On an application by the accused	 the High Court transferred it to the Court of the Munsif Magistrate at Patna. Subsequent to this order of transfer	 the Criminal Law Amendment Act	 1952 (Act XLVI of 1952) came into force on July 28	 1952. The case	 thereafter	 was forwarded to the Special Judge at Patna in view of section 10 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. The contention for the appellant is that there was the Special Judge at Manbhum and flat he alone could have tried this case. Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act	 reads: (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure	 1898	 or in any other law the offences specified in subjection (1) of section 6 shall be triable by special Judges only. (1) ; 53 (2) Every '.offence specified in sub section (1) of section 6 shall be tried by the special Judge for the area within which it was committed	 or where there are more special Judges than one for such area	 by such one of them as may be specified in this behalf by the State Government. (3)When trying any case	 a special Judge may also try any offence other than an offence specified in section 6 with which the accused may	 under the Code of Criminal Procedure	 1898	 be charged at the same trial." Sub section (1) makes the offences under section 161	 Indian Penal Code and section 5(2) of the Act triable by a; special Judge only. The appellant has been tried by a special Judge appointed under the Act. His grievance is not with respect to the competency of the Court which tried him	 but is with respect to the trial Court having no territorial jurisdiction to try him	 as sub section (2) of section 7 provides that such offences would be tried by the special Judge for the area in which the were committed. The offences were committed within the territorial jurisdiction of the special Judge at Manbhum and therefore could have been tried by him alone. It would therefore appear that the special Judge at Patna had no jurisdiction to try this case. Sub section (3) of section 8 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act reads: "Save as provided in sub section (1) or sub section (2)	 the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure	 1898 shall	 so far as they are not inconsistent with this Act	 apply to the proceedings before a special Judge; and for the purposes of the said provisions	 the Court of the special Judge shall be deemed to be a Court of Session trying cases without a jury or without the aid of assessors and the person conducting a prosecution before a special Judge shall be deemed to be a public prosecutor. " It follows that the provisions of section 526 of the Criminal Procedure Code empowering the High Court to transfer any case from a criminal Court subordinate to it (1) ; 54 to any other Court competent to try it	 apply to the case before any special Judge. If this case had been transferred to the Court of the Special Judge	 Manbhum	 on the coming into force of the Criminal Law Amendment Act	 it would have been open to the High Court to transfer the case from that Court to the Court of the Special Judge	 Patna. The case had been transferred from Dhanbad to Patna at the request of the appellant. The trial at Patna cannot be said to have prejudiced the appellant in any way. The mere omission of a formal forwarding of this case to the Special Judge at Manbhum and of a formal order of the High Court to transfer it to the Court of the Special Judge at Patna	 have not	 in our opinion	 prejudiced the appellant in any way. When the case was taken up by the Special Judge	 Patna	 on October 23	 1952	 the accused as well as the Public Prosecutor desired de novo trial. No objection to the jurisdiction of the Court to try the case was taken at that time. Such an objection appears to have been taken at the time of the arguments before the Special Judge and was repelled by him. Such an objection was not raised before the High Court when the appellant 's appeal was first heard in 1955 or in this Court when the State of Bihar appealed against the order of the High Court. All this indicates that the appellant did not feel prejudiced by the trial at Patna. In view of section 531 of the Code of Criminal Procedure	 the order of the Special Judge	 Patna	 is not to be set aside on the ground of his having no territorial jurisdiction to try this case	 when no failure. of justice has actually taken place. It is contended for the appellant that section 531 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is not applicable to this case in view of sub section (1) of section 7 and section 10 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. We do not agree. The former provision simply lays down that such offences shall be triable by special Judges and this provision has not been offended against. Section 10 simply provides that the cases triable by a special Judge under section 7 and pending before a Magistrate immediately before the commencement of the Act shall be forwarded for trial to the 55 special Judge having jurisdiction over such cases. There is nothing in this section which leads to the non application of section 531 of the Criminal Procedure Code. We are therefore of opinion that the order of the special Judge convicting the appellant cannot be quashed merely on the ground that he had no territorial jurisdiction to try this case. The last contention for consideration is whether there had been proper corroboration of the statement of Basu about the accused demanding the bribe of Rs. 10	000 and accepting it on July 18	 1951	 at the Kelner Refreshment Room	 Dhanbad Railway Station. We may briefly indicate the salient facts deposed to by Basu in this connection. The appellant is said to have visited Calcutta in December 1950	 to have gone to Basu 's house and to have asked him to pay a bribe of Rs. 10	000. There is no direct corroboration of this statement by the testimony of any other witness. Kanjilal	 an employee of Basu	 under in. structions of his master	 met the appellant in May	 1951	 enquired of him whether he would accept the amount he had demanded in December and had not been so far paid	 and got the reply that the amount would be: acceptable. He conveyed this information to Basu. Nothing was done till over a month and then too	 not to make the payment	 but to inform the authorities. In June 1951	 Basu informed Mr. K. N. Mookerjee	 P. W. 3	 the then Superintendent of Police	 Special Police Establishment	 about the accused 's demanding bribe and at his request delivered the letter	 Exhibit 11/1	 dated June 18	 to him. He made mention in this letter about the demand made in December 1950	 but made no reference to the appellant 's expression of readiness to accept the amount in the month of May. Mr. Mookerjee took steps for laying the trap and deputed Mr. section P. Mookerjee	 P.W. 1. Kanjilal met the appellant on July 14 and arranged with him that he would go to Dhanbad railway station when Basu would also be reaching there and 'that the money would be paid there and that the date of that meeting would be communicated later. Basu was told of this arrangement at Calcutta. He	 in his turn	 informed the authorities. July 18 was fixed for the purpose. Kanjilal informed the appellant by telephone on July 16 that the meeting would be on the 18th and that Basu would be reaching Dhanbad by the Toofan Express at about 5 p.m. The trap arrangements were completed and the trap party reached Dhanbad by the Toofan Express on July 18. Kanjilal himself went to Sindhri on the morning of July 18 and confirmed the arrangement to the appellant. The appellant also reached Dhanbad railway station at about 5p.m. The members of the trap party took their seats at different tables in the corners of the Refreshment Room of Kellner 's Restaurant. Basu	 with the appellant	 reached there and occupied another table. Refreshments were taken. Thereafter	 Basu talked over matters about the contract with the appellant	 moved near him	 took out the file from his satchel and then	 after some conversation	 took out the envelope containing the currency notes of the value of Rs. 10	000 and having its one long edge slit. This envelope was passed on to the appellant. Basu states that he made a statement at the time that there were Rs. 10	000	 which he could	 not pay to the appellant so far. The appellant took the envelope and put it in his trouser pocket. The trap party	 after getting the signal that the bribe money had been paid	 surrounded the appellant and got the envelope from him. 	 It was found to contain the very currency notes whose 'numbers had previously been noted by the Magistrate	 Mr. Mahadevan. There is no verbal corroboration of Kanjilal 's statement about the message he conveyed to the appellant either in May or on the telephone or on the morning of the 18th of July. The Courts below have found corroboration of the statements of Basu from the circumstances that the demand of money in December 1950 was mentioned in June	 1951	 to Mr. K. N. Mookerjee; that the trap must have been laid when Basu must have been 67 certain that the appellant would turn up at Dhanbad at the appointed time and that the appellant 's presence at Dhanbad railway station could not have been accidental but must have been the result of previous arrangement. No infirmity can be found in this reasoning. The appellant gave an explanation for his presence at the railway station that day. It has not been accepted by the Courts below. In fact	 the learned counsel for the appellant did not press it for consideration at the second hearing of the appeal	 on remand by this Court. No doubt	 the trap arrangements must have been made when there was a practical certainty that the appellant would turn up at Dhanbad railway station. Basu is not expected to mention falsely in the month of June that the appellant made a demand of Rs. 10	000 in December 1950. Ordinarily	 one is not expected to make a complaint of such a demand after such a long period of time. The interval of time seems to have been due possibly to a hope that matters may straighten out or that a lower sum might be acceptable as bribe to pass the pending bills of Basu. The omission of the trap witnesses to corroborate Basu 's statement at the time of the passing on of the envelope to the appellant	 in forming the appellant of the envelope containing Rs. 10	000	 is really surprising when the party consisted of four persons who had gone there for the purpose of being witnesses of the appellant 's accepting the bribe and who could therefore be expected to be alert to hear what passed on between the appellant and Basu. The question here is	 what did the appellant expect the envelope to contain? It was no occasion for Basu to personally deliver any bills or papers concerning the contract business. Such papers could have been sent in the regular course of business to the appellant 's office. The appellant does not appear to have questioned Basu as to what the envelope contained	 as he would have done	 if he did not know for certain what it contained. The appellant 's statement that he understood the envelope to contain bills etc.	 is not consistent with his putting the envelope in his 8 58 pocket. The envolope is expected to be a fat one as it contained one hundred Rs. 100 currency notes. An envelope containing business papers is not expected to be put in the trouser pocket. One usually carries it in hand	 or in one of the pockets of the coat or bush shirt one may be putting on. When it is held that the appellant must have gone to Dhanbad railway station by arrangement	 it becomes a moot point	 what the purpose of the arrangement was. Surely	 it could not have been a mere delivering of certain bills and papers. As already mentioned	 it could have been sent to Sindhri by post or through Kanjilal or any other messenger. The purpose of the meeting at Dhanbad railway station must have been different. The appellant has failed to mention any purpose which could be accepted as correct. It is true that the appellant was not specifically questioned	 when examined under section 342	 Criminal Procedure Code	 with respect to his demanding Rs. 10	000 at Calcutta	 Kanjilal 's visit to him in May and July and his telephonic call and the arrangement and about Basu 's statement at the time the envelope was passed on to him. But we are of opinion that this omission has not occasioned any failure of justice. The appellant fully knew what had been deposed to by witnesses and what had been the case against him. He denied the correctness of the main allegation that he received Rs. 10	 000 as bribe. We are therefore of opinion that the appellant knew when he took the envelope from Basu that he was getting Rs. 10	000 as bribe	 which amount he had demanded	 and that therefore the conviction of the appellant is correct. The appeal is therefore dismissed. Appeal dismissed.

The appellant accepted a sum of Rs. 10	000 from a con tractor. He was chalanned before a Magistrate at Dhanbad; but on an application by the appellant the High Court trans ferred the case to the Munsif Magistrate	 Patna. Subsequently	 the Criminal Law Amendment Act	 1952	 came into force which made every offence under section 161 Indian Penal Code and section 5(2) Prevention of Corruption Act triable only by a Special judge for the area within which it was committed. The case of the appellant was forwarded to the Special judge at Patna who convicted him both under section 161 and section 5(2). The appellant contended: (1) that the Special judge at Patna had no jurisdiction to try the appellant as the offence was committed within the area of the Special judge at Dhanbad and (2) that the provisions regarding the presumption contained in section 4 of the Prevention of Corruption Act	 1947	 offended article 21 of the Constitution. Held	 that the order of conviction could not be quashed on the ground that the Special judge at Patna had no territorial jurisdiction to try the case as no failure of justice had been occasioned. Section 531 Code of Criminal Procedure was applicable to trials by Special judges. The High Court had also the power under section 526 of the Code to transfer a case from one Special judge to another	 and the omission of a formal order transferring the case to the Special Judge at Patna had not prejudiced the appellant. Held	 further that the procedure laid down by section 4 of the Prevention of Corruption Act	 which was enacted by Parlia ment	 laid down a procedure established by law. The question that section 4 offended article 21 of the Constitution was not a substantial question as to the interpretation of the Constitution within the meaning of article 145(3) and it was not necessary to refer it to a Bench of five judges. A. K. Gopalan vs The State of Madras	 ; 	 followed.