In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court of India has acquitted two Gujarat government employees, a Talati-cum-Mantri and a peon, in a corruption case dating back to 1996. The case, which centered on an alleged ₹120 bribe, has finally concluded after nearly three decades, with the apex court citing a failure by the prosecution to establish a crucial element: the demand for a bribe.
The Long Legal Battle
The case, titled Rafikmiya Ahmedmiya Malek v. State of Gujarat, originated in February 1996. A student approached the Bechri Gram Panchayat office seeking an income certificate required for educational concessions. According to the prosecution, the Talati-cum-Mantri demanded ₹120—allegedly ₹100 for himself and ₹20 for the peon.
Following this alleged demand, the student approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), which orchestrated a trap. The student was instructed to carry ₹120 in marked currency notes. During the operation, the student handed ₹20 to the peon after receiving the certificate. The marked note was subsequently recovered from the peon, but the remaining ₹100 was never found in the possession of the Talati-cum-Mantri.
Both employees were convicted by a trial court in 1999 under Sections 7 and 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Gujarat High Court upheld these convictions in 2015, leading the accused to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court's Scrutiny and Acquittal
Before the Supreme Court, the defense argued that the alleged demand for money was never conclusively proven and that the peon had not made any demand whatsoever. A Bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S Chandurkar meticulously reviewed the evidence and found significant inconsistencies.
The Court noted discrepancies in the student's statements, particularly that he had claimed in another instance that the Talati-cum-Mantri initially demanded ₹200 before settling on ₹120—a version absent from his trial testimony. Furthermore, the Court questioned why the student gave only ₹20 to the peon, despite having been instructed to hand over the entire ₹120.
“This again raises a doubt as regards demand of ₹120/- by A1 (the Talati-cum-Mantri) in the backdrop of the complainant giving ₹20/- to A2 (the peon) despite being instructed to give the entire amount of ₹120/- whenever the demand was made,” the Court observed.
During cross-examination, the student admitted that the peon had never demanded money, and the ₹20 was given only after the certificate had already been prepared and handed over. The Court also found the peon's defense, that the money was given as an Eid gift since the festival was the next day, to be plausible.
The Supreme Court underscored that mere recovery of money, particularly a small amount like ₹20, cannot by itself prove a corruption charge if the initial demand is not established. “If the initial demand itself is not proved, mere recovery of the amount of ₹20/- from A2 would not resurrect the case of the prosecution to enable the Court to hold that the charge was proved,” the Bench stated.
Invalid Prosecution Sanction
Adding to the grounds for acquittal, the Supreme Court also found that the sanction for prosecuting the Talati-cum-Mantri was invalid. It determined that the sanction had been granted by an officer who was not competent to do so, rendering the prosecution legally flawed from the outset.
With these findings, the Supreme Court set aside the convictions, bringing an end to the nearly three-decade-long legal ordeal for both Gujarat government employees.