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Krishan Chander v. State of Delhi

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 14 of 2016)Decided 6 Jan 2016
Criminal Appeal No. 14 of 2016
Chief Justice T.S. Thakur · Justice V. Gopala Gowda

Background

The appellant, a police constable in Delhi, was convicted by the trial court and the Delhi High Court for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs. 1,000 (part of an alleged Rs. 5,000 demand) from a complainant in exchange for releasing the complainant's brother on bail. He was sentenced to two years' rigorous imprisonment under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The complainant later turned hostile at trial and did not support the prosecution's version of events.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that a demand for illegal gratification is a mandatory, indispensable element ("sine qua non") of offences under Sections 7 and 13(1)(d)/13(2) of the PC Act: mere recovery of tainted currency notes is not enough. Reviewing the record, the Court found the complainant had turned hostile specifically on the question of demand and acceptance, the panch witness never actually heard any conversation involving a demand, and the investigating officer's own evidence showed it was a different officer (not the appellant) who had originally demanded money. Because the prosecution failed to prove the actual demand beyond reasonable doubt, the Court set aside the conviction of both the trial court and High Court and allowed the appeal, ordering the appellant's immediate release.

Lesson Learnt

In bribery prosecutions, the prosecution must affirmatively prove that the accused actually demanded a bribe: simply recovering marked currency notes from someone's possession is not, by itself, sufficient to convict them of corruption.

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

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