[1] The present appeal, under Section 378 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, is directed against the Judgment and order of acquittal dated 15.10.1998 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Bharuch, in Special Corruption Case No.3 of 1994, whereby the learned Judge has acquitted the respondent – accused from the charges levelled against him.
[2] The brief facts of the case of prosecution are that complainant lodged a complaint against the respondent - accused on 25.03.1993 alleging that on 21.03.1993, the complainant had some quarrel with one Solanki of his Village : Ranada, Taluka : Amod and in the said incident, said Solanki had given three lathi blows to the complainant. Therefore, the complainant went to Police Station to lodge the complaint. The police had advised him to take treatment at Government Hospital and gave him a Yadi. With the said yadi, the complainant went to Amod Health Centre, there he met the respondent – accused. It is also alleged in the complaint that the respondent – accused treated the complainant and the respondent called the complainant in his office and told him that if the complainant wanted a good injury certificate, the complainant will have to give Rs.500/-. Thereupon, the complainant expressed inability to pay said amount. It is alleged that the complainant, however, was not willing to pay such amount and hence, the complainant lodged complaint against the accused – respondents for the offences punishable under Sections 7 and 13(1)(G) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. Therefore, the complaint was lodged against the accused for the offence under Sections 7 and 13(1)(G) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 before the A.C.B Office, on 25.03.1993.
[3] Thereafter, the concerned officer, after completing the necessary procedure arranged the trap. The raid was carried out and the respondent accused was caught red-handed. After completion of investigation, the charge-sheet is filed. Thereafter, the charge was framed against the respondent – accused. The respondent – accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and claimed to be tried.
[4] To prove the case against the accused, the prosecution has examined the witnesses and relied upon certain documents.
[5] At the end of trial, after recording the statements of the respondents – accused, under Section 313 Cr. P.C., and after hearing the arguments on behalf of the prosecution and the defence, the learned Judge vide the impugned Judgment and order, has acquitted the respondent – accused from the charges levelled against him.
[6] Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the Judgment and order passed by the Judge the appellant – State has preferred the present Appeal.
[7] I have heard learned A.P.P. on behalf of the appellant – State. I have also gone through the papers and also the Judgment and order passed by the learned Judge . Learned APP has contended that the learned Judge has given undue importance to the minor contradictions in the evidence of the complainant forgetting that the FIR was lodged on 25.03.1993, while the complainant gave his deposition on 17.07.1997 after five years. Hence, there is some contradictions between what he stated in the FIR and his say after five years before the Court. He has contended that the learned Judge has erred in holding that though the evidence of panch is reliable but as there are discrepancies in the evidence of the complainant only on the evidence of panch the accused could not be held guilty. He has contended that the respondent had demanded illegal gratification of Rs.500/- form the complainant regarding issuance of injury certificate and the same is received in presence of panch witnesses by his right hand. He has contended that the learned Judge has not properly considered the fact that the presence of the anthrecene powder marks were found on the border pocket of doctor's shirt. He has contended that the learned Judge has failed to appreciate that muddamal notes which was seized from the accused was tallied with numbers of notes in panchnama. He has contended that the learned Judge has not considered the fact that the presence of anthrecene powder were found on all the finger of right hand of the accused. The shirt which was worn by the accused was also seen in ultraviolet lamp and on border of left side pocket of shirt, there was anthrecene powder marks. He has contended that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and the judgment and order of the learned Judge is required to be quashed and set aside. It has been contended by the learned APP that the Judgment and order of the learned Judge is against the provisions of law; the learned Judge has not properly considered the evidence led by the prosecution and looking to the provisions of law, it is established that the prosecution has proved all the ingredients of the evidence against the present respondents. Learned APP has also taken this Court through the oral as well as the entire documentary evidence.
[8] Learned senior advocate for the respondent has supported the judgment and order of the trial Court and contended that looking to the facts of the case the learned Judge has rightly not believed the case of the prosecution and, therefore, no interference may be called for. He has contended that the recovery of the trap amount is not recovered from the respondent, but it is recovered from the floor. He has contended that there are material contradiction which are already proved from the oral version of the Investigating Officer. He has contended that the conduct of the complainant has created some doubt. He has contended that in the case of corruption, demand and acceptance is required to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. He has contended that when demand, recovery and acceptance is not proved by the prosecution, the learned Judge has not committed any error in acquitting the respondent from the charges levelled against him. He has therefore prayed that the present appeal deserves to be dismissed and the impugned judgment and order deserves to be confirmed.
[9] At the outset it is required to be noted that the principles which would govern and regulate the hearing of appeal by this Court against an order of acquittal passed by the Judge have been very succinctly explained by the Apex Court in a catena of decisions. In the case of M.S. Narayana Menon @ Mani Vs. State of Kerala & Anr, reported in (2006)6 SCC, 39, the Apex Court has narrated about the powers of the High Court in appeal against the order of acquittal. In para 54 of the decision, the Apex Court has observed as under:
“54. In any event the High Court entertained an appeal treating to be an appeal against acquittal, it was in fact exercising the revisional jurisdiction. Even while exercising an appellate power against a judgement of acquittal, the High Court should have borne in mind the well-settled principles of law that where two view are possible, the appellate court should not interfere with the finding of acquittal recorded by the court below.”
[10] Further, in the case of Chandrappa Vs. State of Karnataka, reported in (2007)4 SCC 415 the Apex Court laid down the following principles:
“42. From the above decisions, in our considered view, the following general principles regarding powers of the appellate court while dealing with an appeal against an order of acquittal emerge:
[1] An appellate court has full power to review, reappreciate and reconsider the evidence upon which the order of acquittal is founded.
[2] The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 puts no limitation, restriction or condition on exercise of such power and an appellate court on the evidence before it may reach its own conclusion, both on questions of fact and of law.
[3] Various expressions, such as, “substantial and compelling reasons”, “good and sufficient grounds”, “very strong circumstances”, “distorted conclusions”, “glaring mistakes”, etc. are not intended to curtain extensive powers of an appellate court in an appeal against acquittal. Such phraseologies are more in the nature of “flourishes of language” to emphasis the reluctance of an appellate court to interfere with acquittal than to curtail the power of the court to review the evidence and to come to its own conclusion.
[4] An appellate court, however, must bear in mind that in case of acquittal there is double presumption in favour of the accused. Firstly, the presumption of innocence is available to him under the fundamental principle of criminal jurisprudence that every person shall be presumed to be innocent unless he is proved guilty by a competent court of law. Secondly, the accused having secured his acquittal, the presumption of his innocence is further reinforced, reaffirmed and strengthened by the trial court.
[5] If two reasonable conclusions are possible on the basis of the evidence on record, the appellate court should not disturb the finding of acquittal recorded by the trial court.”
[11] Thus, it is a settled principle that while exercising appellate power, even if two reasonable conclusions are possible on the basis of the evidence on record, the appellate court should not disturb the finding of acquittal recorded by the trial court.
[12] Even in a recent decision of the Apex Court in the case of State of Goa V. Sanjay Thakran & Anr. Reported in (2007)3 SCC 75, the Court has reiterated the powers of the High Court in such cases. In para 16 of the said decision the Court has observed as under:
“16. From the aforesaid decisions, it is apparent that while exercising the powers in appeal against the order of acquittal the Court of appeal would not ordinarily interfere with the order of acquittal unless the approach of the lower Court is vitiated by some manifest illegality and the conclusion arrived at would not be arrived at by any reasonable person and, therefore, the decision is to be characterized as perverse. Merely because two views are possible, the Court of appeal would not take the view which would upset the judgement delivered by the Court below. However, the appellate court has a power to review the evidence if it is of the view that the conclusion arrived at by the Court below is perverse and the Court has committed a manifest error of law and ignored the material evidence on record. A duty is cast upon the appellate court, in such circumstances, to re-appreciate the evidence to arrive to a just decision on the basis of material placed on record to find out whether any of the accused is connected with the commission of the crime he is charged with.”
[13] Similar principle has been laid down by the Apex Court in the cases of State of Uttar Pradesh Vs. Ram Veer Singh & Ors, reported in 2007 AIR SCW 5553 and in Girja Prasad (Dead) by LRs Vs. state of MP, reported in 2007 AIR SCW 5589. Thus, the powers which this Court may exercise against an order of acquittal are well settled.
[14] It is also a settled legal position that in acquittal appeal, the appellate court is not required to re-write the judgment or to give fresh reasoning, when the reasons assigned by the Court below are found to be just and proper. Such principle is laid down by the Apex Court in the case of State of Karnataka Vs. Hemareddy, reported in AIR 1981 SC 1417 wherein it is held as under:
“… This court has observed in Girija Nandini Devi V. Bigendra Nandini Chaudhary (1967)1 SCR 93: (AIR 1967 SC 1124) that it is not the duty of the appellate court when it agrees with the view of the trial court on the evidence to repeat the narration of the evidence or to reiterate the reasons given by the trial court expression of general agreement with the reasons given by the Court the decision of which is under appeal, will ordinarily suffice.”
[15] Thus, in case the appellate court agrees with the reasons and the opinion given by the lower court, then the discussion of evidence is not necessary.
[16] I have gone through the judgment and order passed by the learned Judge. I have also perused the oral as well as documentary evidence led before the learned Judge and also considered the submissions made by learned advocates for the respective parties. Looking to the facts and circumstances of the case, three ingredients i.e demand, acceptance and recovery are completely lacking in the present case. It also appears that the evidence of the complainant and the panch witnesses are contradictory with regard to place where the first demand was made. Looking to the evidence, in present case, when the demand is not proved and recovery is also not proved, then the learned Judge has not committed any mistake in not believing the case of the prosecution. Looking to the facts and circumstances and evidence on record, I am of the opinion that the learned Judge after appreciating the oral as well as documentary evidence has rightly acquitted the respondent of the charges levelled against him. The learned Judge has, after appreciating the oral as well as documentary evidence, has found that the witnesses have not supported the case of prosecution. The learned Judge has also found that there are serious lacunae in the evidence of the witnesses. Nothing is produced on record to rebut the concrete findings of the Judge.
[17] Thus, the appellant could not bring home the charge against the respondent – accused in the present Appeal. The prosecution has miserably failed to prove the charge levelled against the respondent – accused. Thus, from the evidence itself it is established that the prosecution has not proved its case as alleged against the accused beyond reasonable doubt.
[18] Learned APP is not in a position to show any evidence to take a contrary view in the matter or that the approach of the Judge is vitiated by some manifest illegality or that the decision is perverse or that the Judge has ignored the material evidence on record.
[19] In above view of the matter, I am of the considered opinion that the Judge was completely justified in acquitting the respondent of the charges leveled against him. I find that the findings recorded by the Judge are absolutely just and proper and in recording the said findings, no illegality or infirmity has been committed by it.
[20] I am, therefore, in complete agreement with the findings, ultimate conclusion and the resultant order of acquittal recorded by the court below and hence find no reasons to interfere with the same. Hence the appeal deserves to be dismissed.
[21] In view of above the Appeal is dismissed. The judgment and order of dated 15.10.1998 passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Bharuch, in Special Corruption Case No.3 of 1994 acquitting the respondent – accused of the offences charged against him is hereby confirmed. Bail bonds, if any, shall stand cancelled. Record & Proceeding may be sent back to the concerned Court.
[ Z. K. SAIYED, J. ] vijay