Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 20: Special Judge Anti-Corruption Srinagar Ravinder Nath Wattal has acquitted an official of Passenger Tax Department as prosecution failed to prove the charge against the accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
As per the prosecution case, the accused official Showket Ahmad Mir was nabbed by the Vigilance Organization while accepting illegal gratification of Rs 400 from the complainant Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, who had approached him for stamping the document relating to deposition of Passenger Tax.
After hearing the counsel for the accused and Chief Prosecuting Officer besides examining the witnesses and relevant material on record, the Special Judge Anti-Corruption observed, “prosecution has not proved by cogent and clinching evidence that the alleged accused who demanded bribe money from the complainant for putting a seal on Passenger Tax document was virtually Orderly Showkat Ahmad Mir”.
“Prosecution has failed to prove beyond doubt that on the day of alleged trap accused demanded and accepted the bribe money from complainant as his statement to this fact does not find favour from the statements of two important witnesses”, the court further observed.
Since the prosecution has failed to prove the fact that accused demanded and accepted the bribe money by cogent evidence, therefore, the prosecution evidence to this fact that accused put the bribe money in the pocket of his jeans pant and same was recovered from that is ultimately rendered doubtful by shadow and independent witness who have clearly stated that bribe money was recovered from the table and not from the alleged accused, the court further said.
“So far as chemical positive tests are concerned, they have also been rendered doubtful as all the important witnesses and even the police witnesses are unanimous to this fact that hand wash and pocket wash of the accused that was shown to them in the court was not pinkish in colour and was pure crystal water coloured. Moreover, without the FSL opinion about the presence of sodium carbonate in the hand wash or pocket wash the credibility of the chemical tests that have been conducted by prosecution gets shuttered”, the Special Judge Anti-Corruption said.
With these observations, court acquitted the alleged accused by extending him the benefit of doubt.
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