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Vinod Kumar v. State of Punjab

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 554 of 2012)Decided 21 Jan 2015
Criminal Appeal No. 554 of 2012
Justice Dipak Misra · Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman

Background

The appellant, an Octroi Inspector in Rajpura municipal area, was accused of demanding and accepting Rs. 500 per month as a bribe from a tractor-trolley operator in exchange for allowing entry into the municipal limits. A vigilance trap was laid, tainted currency notes were recovered from him, and he was convicted by the Special Judge, Patiala under Sections 7 and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and sentenced to two years' rigorous imprisonment. The Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence to one year. The complainant had turned hostile during trial and resiled from his original statement.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the conviction. It held that even where the complainant turns hostile on the question of "demand," the prosecution can still prove its case through independent witnesses and documentary evidence (here, an independent witness to the raid and the chemical examiner's report), and that recovery of tainted money raises a statutory presumption under Section 20 of the Act which the accused must rebut. The Court also used the occasion to strongly criticise the practice of trial courts granting repeated, unwarranted adjournments that let cross-examinations be deferred for years, allowing witnesses to be "won over", and directed that copies of the judgment be circulated to all High Court Chief Justices for onward transmission to trial judges.

Lesson Learnt

A bribery conviction can stand even if the original complainant later turns hostile, so long as independent witnesses and forensic evidence (such as a chemical test on the accused's hands) corroborate the demand and acceptance of the bribe; mere possession of recovered cash shifts the burden onto the accused to prove innocence.

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

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