Accountant’s plea to set conviction aside in bribe case junked by Madras High Court

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court refused to set aside the conviction imposed on an accountant from the Namakkal district treasury office for demanding Rs 800 as a bribe for granting sanction to a legal heir to receive the family pension.

As the burden is obviously on the convict to prove his assertion and his efforts are far too inadequate to rescue him, Justice N Seshasayee dismissed the petition, seeking to set aside the conviction.

The complainant approached the convict, P Ranganathan, in March 2007 with the application to avail the family pension of his demised father.

The complainant represented himself for the pension as his father had nominated his sister as the nominee for the family pension.

However, Ranganathan asked for Rs 1,000 as a bribe to grant sanction. After a bargain, the bribe amount was reduced to Rs 800, said the complainant.

Upset at the prospect of a bribe, the complainant approached the vigilance and anti-corruption police regarding Ranganathan’s bribe demand.

With the advice of the DVAC personnel, the complainant met the convict at his office and gave the notes smeared with phenolphthalein powder to trap him. Per the plan, after Ranganathan received the planted currencies, the DVAC team entered the picture and arrested him under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In October 2017, the Namakkal chief judicial magistrate found the accountant guilty and convicted him to two years of rigorous imprisonment.

Aggrieved by the conviction, Ranganathan moved the appeal.

However, the HC refused to set aside the conviction as the prosecution proved its case beyond doubt but modified the sentence to one year of simple imprisonment.