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N. Vijayakumar v. State of Tamil Nadu

Criminal Appeal · 2021 INSC 60Decided 3 Feb 2021
Criminal Appeal Nos. 100-101 of 2021
Justice Ashok Bhushan · Justice R. Subhash Reddy · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

The appellant, a Sanitary Inspector in Madurai Municipal Corporation, was accused of demanding Rs. 500 and a mobile phone as a bribe from a contractor's supervisor to process an extension of his sanitation work contract. The trial court acquitted him after finding material contradictions in the prosecution witnesses' testimony, but the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, in an appeal by the State, reversed the acquittal and convicted him under the Prevention of Corruption Act, sentencing him to one year's rigorous imprisonment and a fine. The accused appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the trial court's acquittal reflected a "possible view" of the evidence: the complainant had an admitted history of ill-will with the accused (having been insulted on caste grounds), there was an unexplained delay of over an hour between the alleged bribe handover and the phenolphthalein hand-wash test, and the money/phone were produced only when officials specifically asked, not caught in the act. Relying on settled precedent, the Court reiterated that an appellate court cannot overturn an acquittal merely because another view is also possible: it may interfere only where the trial court's view was not a reasonably possible one at all. It also reaffirmed that mere recovery of tainted currency is not enough to convict under the Prevention of Corruption Act; the prosecution must prove demand and voluntary acceptance of the bribe beyond reasonable doubt, which was lacking here given the contradictions in witness testimony. The High Court's conviction and sentence were set aside, and the accused was ordered released.

Lesson Learnt

In bribery prosecutions, mere recovery of money or an object from the accused is not enough to convict: the prosecution must separately prove an actual demand and voluntary acceptance of it as a bribe; and an appellate court reviewing an acquittal must show that the trial court's view was not even a reasonably possible one, not simply that a different view could also have been taken.

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

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