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K. Shanthamma vs. The State of Telangana

Criminal Appeal · 2022 INSC 213Decided 21 Feb 2022
Criminal Appeal No. 261 of 2022
Ajay Rastogi · Abhay S. Oka

Background

The appellant, a Commercial Tax Officer in Secunderabad, was accused of demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 2,000 from a cooperative society's supervisor in exchange for issuing a pending tax assessment order. A trap was laid by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, and currency notes were allegedly recovered from a diary in her table drawer. The Special Court convicted her under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Telangana High Court upheld the conviction on appeal.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court acquitted the appellant, holding that proof of demand for a bribe (not just recovery of money) is essential to sustain a conviction under Sections 7 and 13 of the Act. It found the complainant's account of repeated demands was an "improvement" contradicted by his own earlier statements, that a witness meant to accompany the complainant during the trap never actually entered the officer's room, and that the underlying tax notice had already exempted the society from paying any tax before the alleged demands were made, making the prosecution's story about a bribe demand highly doubtful.

Lesson Learnt

In bribery prosecutions, mere recovery of money is not enough. The prosecution must reliably prove that a demand was actually made and accepted; unexplained gaps, contradictions, and missing independent witnesses can be fatal to the case even after two courts have convicted.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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