Holding

The conviction of the factory inspector under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC is upheld as the evidence, including the two independent witnesses and the phenolphthalein test, establishes the offence beyond reasonable doubt.

Summary

Kishan Chand Mangal, a factory inspector, demanded a Rs.150 bribe from factory owner Rajendra Dutt, who filed a complaint. The Anti‑Corruption Department set a trap, marking the money with phenolphthalein and having two witnesses, Ram Babu and Keshar Mal, observe the hand‑over. The accused’s hands turned pink when dipped in sodium carbonate, indicating the powder’s presence. Although the complainant died before trial, the trial court and High Court upheld the conviction based on the witnesses’ testimony, the recovered money, and the chemical test, sentencing Mangal under IPC sections 161, 161A and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. On appeal, the Supreme Court rejected arguments that the witnesses were unreliable because of their clerical status, that the FIR omission of the appellant’s name was fatal, or that the phenolphthalein test was inconclusive, and affirmed that the evidence proved the offence beyond reasonable doubt.

Issues considered

The admissibility and reliability of testimony from two 'motbirs' when the complainant is unavailable.
Whether the witnesses' status as petty clerks affects their independence from police influence.
The probative value of the phenolphthalein test on the accused's hands.
The applicability of the presumption of guilt under Section 4(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
The significance of the appellant’s name being absent from the FIR.
The legality of the trap operation under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Legislation cited

Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 161, s. 161A
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947s. 4(1), s. 5(2)

Subjects

briberycorruptiontrap operationwitness credibilityphenolphthalein testPrevention of Corruption Actfactory inspectorevidentiary lawpresumption of guilt

Judgment

._

I...... S69
A
j(ISHAN CHAND MANGAL
• v. '. B
'/
STATE OF RAJAS:rHAN

October 14, 1982
[D.A. DESAI AND A.P. SEN, JJ.]
.
E1idence-Of persons belonging to office-wise, wealth-wise' lower strata
'
L of_society-Rejection on sole groMJ_ of humble origin-Not justified• .

Evidence-Witnesse.1 independent of police inf/~enc~Empfoyees of
nationalised banks and institutioru receiving grants from gover'f111ent-Position of.
\ - /
The appellant, a Factory Inspector, visited the complainant's factory and ·
demanded an illegal ·gratification of ~s. 150/- on the· threat of entangling him in
· some legal proceedings. The complainant, who wa1 not inclined to give the bribe,. D
made a written complaint to the Deputy Superintendent of Police. Anti-Corrup- ·
• tion Department (DySP) requesting for suitable actiOn~ A_ trap was arranged by
smearing IS currency notes of the denomination of Rs. 10/- each with phenolph- \
th3.lein powder ·and, on the direction of the DySP, two motbirs were requested
to accompany the" raiding p_arty and to ·watch what happens. The motbir1 wetit
·• along with the complainant to the residence of the appelJant and witnessed
the acceptance of the· money given to him ·by the com.plaicant, the subsequent. E
. search for thC recovery of the currency Dotes from the appellant,. the dipping of
his hands in sodium carbonate solution and the .consequent change in the colour .) ·

..of tho hands into pink, • ·

By the time the c3.se "came up for trial, the complainant was dead. In the
absence of the evidence of the complainant, the trial Judge noted that the first
de~nd of the bribe at the factory of the complainant had not been proved. , He, F
·'. boWever, held that the evidence of the two mo1bir1 was reliable· and was amply
· corroborated by the · recovery of the Currency notes as well as the presence of
phenolphthalein powder on the hands or the appellant. 'The trial_ ,Judge' ~nviCtCd' I
and sentenced the appellant under_s. 161, 1.P.C. and s. S(l)(d) read w:ith s. 5(2)'
·i
.
of the Prevention of Corruption Act, .1947. - '

The High Court which examined the ~vrdence of the 'molbir1 agreed with G I
the findings recorded by the trial Court and 4ismissed the appeal filed by the
appetliint.

,. One of the contentions urged on behalf of the ·appellant was that
!, once the complainant was not available· to give evidence not· only of the first
demand but also on the payment ·dr bribe PUrSuant to the demand, the evidence H
ot the two morbirs had assumed cotlsiderable importance and it Was unwise and ·
dangerous to pJace implic!t ,reliance on their testimODJ'. to convict the appellant

I
I
.-
/
570 SUPRBMB COURT 'REPORTS (19831 1 s.c.R.

A ··as (i) both the motbirs were petty clerks and (ii) by virtue of ·their scrvi~, they
were likely to be under pOiice influence.. · .,

Dismissing the appeal;,
/.
• .'
HELD : Truth is neither the monopoly nor the preserve of the affluent or
of highly placed persons. In a country where renunciation is worshipped and the
B grandeur and wild display of wealth frowned upon, it would·. be the travesty of
truth if persons coming from bumble origin and belongin"g to office-wise, wealth-
wise lower strata of society are to be disbelieved or rejected as unworthy of belief
Solely on th_e ground of their bumble position in society. (577-P]

Khairatl Lal v. The State, (1965) l belhi Law Times, J62'overruled. ·

c /
- In the "instant case it is factually not correct to say that both the motbir.J
J
are petty clerks : one was serving as a clerk in a nationalised bank and the other
was a teacher in a lniddle school. The testimony or the' motblrJ which had been
. accepted as Wholly reliable by the trial Judge and the High Court cannot be
rejected on the sole ground that they are petty clerks. (577-E: 578-A-B] ·
. ' .

It nlay be. that officers. of Anti-Corruption Depart~eni h3ve jtirisdiction
D to inVestigate lapses on the part of clerks_ in nationalised banks. It is not clear
whether the motbir who was a teacher was a government cmploYee or the scboOI
itself was a government school. It' may be that the school was· receiving grant •
but. if all institutions which receive grant from government are styled as
govCmi:nent departments and have to be treated as fallirig under the police
infiueDce then the net will have tO be spread so wide as not to exclude anyOne .
as independent of poliCc influence. There is no justification in the submission •
E that the two motbirJ were .persons not likely to ~ i0;depcndent of poJice
influence. · [578-D-EJ · ·
\. . '
Raghhir Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR 1976 S.C. 91, distinguished•
•
CRIMINAL APPELLATE Jua1so1cnoN : Crimi11aJ Appea~ No. 4s
F. of 1980 · -

From the Judgment and Order dated the 17th October, 1979 of.
-. the High Court of Rajasthan in S.B. Criminal 'Appeal No. 39 or·
1977.
·' Frank Anthony and S.K. Jain,' for the Appellant.
G . ' . f

BadTi Dass Sharma for the Respondent.

Tbe Judgment of the Court was delivered by
. ,
H DESAl;J. Appellant Kishan Chand Mangal was convicted by
the learned· Special Judge (A.C.D. Cases), Jaipur, Rajasthan, for .
KISHAN CHAND ·v ..RAJASTHAN (Desai, J.) 571•.

A

B

Appellant at the relevant time ·was serving as Factory Inspector,.
Ajmer and in that capacity he accompanied by his friend paid a visit
on November 20, 1974, to the factory named 'Krishna Industries'
whose proprietor was one Rajendra Dutt. Appellant· said that his c
· vi.sit ·being after a lapse of one and a half year, the proprietor should
, pay,him pocket money. Rajend~a E>utt replied that his establish-
ment was not covered by the Factories Act and showed disinclination
to grease the_palms of the appellant. However, appellant persisted
.in his demand and· told Rajendra Dutt if he did not.pay Rs. 150/- he
. was likely to be entangled in some· legal proceedings. So saying D
appellant and his companion left.. Rajendra Dutt was not inclined
to give the bribe demanded from him a:nd,. therefore, ·on November
22, 1974; he contacted Dy. S.P., A.C.D., Ajmer, P.W. 70 Mahavif
Prasad and gave a written 'complaint Ext. P-12 complaining about
the demand of ·illegal gratification by the appellant requesting for
taking suitable action in the matter. · He also produced 15 currency E
notes each· of the denomination of Rs. 10/-. P:W. 7 Dy. S.P.
Mahavir Prasad directed ·P.W. 3 Prahlad··Narayan to bring two.·
persons to witness the search and accordingly P.W. 1 Ram Babu and
P:w 2 Keshar Mal were requesied to join the raiding party. 15·
currency notes produced by the complainant were smeared with
phenolphthalein powder and a memorandum of the same was pre-
F.
. pared; The raiding party led by P.W. 7Dy. S.P. Mahavir.Prasad

~··
and including the com.Plaina.nt Rajendra Dutt, two m~tbirs P.W; I
Ram Babu and ,P.W. ·2 Keshar Mal, P.W. 3 'Prahlad Narayan, a
clerk in the Office uf the Anti Coquption Department, .started by a
· jeep driven by P.W. 6 Bajrang Singh to go to the residence of the
G
appellant. Office and residence of the appellant are situated in the
same buitding. Complainant Raj endra Dutt and the two motbirs
Ram Babu and Keshar Mal proceeded ahead and entered into the .
room used as residential. portion of the building. Ram Babu and
Kcshar Mal stoppled in the verandah and .the complainant Rajendia H.
. Dutt went inside.· Appellant w~s seen sitting on,a cot. On inquiry
. by complainant Rajendra .Duti appellant replied that he was not well
.. . . , I . . -
S7i SUPREME COURT REPORTS j19sjj i s.c.ii..
A and that he was suffering from cold. Appellant then inquired
· whether co.mplainant Rajendra Dutt had brought the money and
tbe cqmplainant replied that he had brought the money and handed
over marked currency notes 15 in number each of th_e demonination
of Rs. 10/- which the appellant accepted ailcj put the same under his
pillow. Rajendra Dutt canie out in the verandah and as instructed,
8 ' gave the agreed signal whereupon Dy. S.P. Mahavir Prasad, the two
motbirs and others entered the room. Mahavir Prasad introduced
himself as Dy. S.P. ACD, and asked the appellant whether he had
accepted Rs. 150/- as and by way ·of bribe from complainant
Rajendra Dutt. Appellant denied having accepted any bribe or any
money from Rajendra Dutt whereupon a search of his person-was
taken. When the search of the person of the accused was being
taken motbirs Ram Babu and Keshar Mal pointed towards the
pillow indicating that .the bribe taken by the appellant was kept
underneath the pillow. P.W. 6 Driver Bajrang Singh ,was asked to
.lift the currency notes and the numbers were _tallied with the
D memorandum prepared earlier. Hands of the accused were dipped
in the solution of Sodium carbonate which turned pink. After the
memorandum was completed' recording all these facts and after
completing investigation sanction, was obtained and the appellant was
prosecuted for the. aforementioned offences.
. By the time the case came up for trial complainant Rajendra
E· Dutt was dead and his evi.dence was not available. Prosecution
examined the two motbirs Ram Babu and Keshar Mal, Dy. SP,
ACD Mahavir Prasad, Clerk Prah!ad Narayan, Driver Bajrang Singh
and two· others.

·Statement of the accused was recorded under s. 313 of the
F Code of Criminal Procedure and he offered himself as a witness in
his defence. In his evidence he stated that on the date of occurrence
around 4.30 p.ni. when he was sitting in his cot complainant
Rajendra Dutt came and took a seat in the chair placed nearby.
Appellant enquired wfiy he had come and whether he had brought
any written complaint against Clerk Mr: Singhal. According to him,
G the complainant replied that action be ·taken against Singhal by
recording his statement whereupon the appellant said that if the
complainant has any grievance be should come with a written
·complaint. Appellant further stated that thereafter he went to the
H
bath room for spltting coug}\ and he came out and sat on the· cot.
Complainant'Rajendra Dutt ·enquired whether he can drink water •
"
from a jug which was' lying there. Thereafter Rajendfa Dutt went
• •
-
KISHAN CHAND V. RAJASTHAN (Desai, J.) 573

out of the room and soon thereafter 8 persons including Rajendra A
Dutt entered tb'e room. He stated that· two of the members of ihe
raiding party caught his hands and when he. t~ied to get himself
released·from the grip of th.ose persons the grip· tightened. One of
the members of the raiding ·party then told him that he was Dy. SP,.
ACD, Ajmer and called upon him to produce Rs; 150/- he had taken
from Rajendra Dutt. Appellant stated that he immediately told the B
Dy. SP that be bad not accepted any money from Rajendra .Dutt
wliereupon the Dy. SP came.near him an~ put his hand in the pocket
of the garment put on by the appellant. Appellant- objected to any
search being taken and insisted on keeping two respectable· persons
,. present. He further _stated that Dy. SP qu,arrelled·with him and then
be sent a telephone message to S.P., Ajmer that a: Factory Inspector c
lias quarrelled with hilli' and he should be provided with extra police
help. Tbereaf.ter his bands were dipped in a solution but the colour
of the solution did not chan.ge and remained white. Appellant then
told the Dy. SP that Rajendra Dutt bad come to complain against
one Singhal, a' Cierk and in support of this he produced Ext. D-2
marked collectively in respeci of five letters. ·At )his stage the Dy.
D
SP according to the apj>ellant asked· Rajendra _Dutt why ·he bad
given a false signal whereupon' the complainant Rajendra Dutt.
informed the DySP thafthe bribe money was lying ·under the pillow .-
whereupon the DySP removed the pillow and collected the currency
notes. He further stated that be has been involved in this false case
E
ot
. at the instance K.C: Sogani, Factory Manager of Krishna Mills,
Beawar. This was broadly the defence of the appellant as collected
from his evidenc~. ' '

The learned special Judge noted the faci that the complainant
Rajendra Dutt was not available and, therefore, the first demand at F
the.Factory of Rajendra Dutt on November 20, 1974, has not been

~'.
proved. The learned Judge, however, held that the evidence of two
n:iotbirs Ram Babu. and Keshar Mal was reliable and was amply
corroborated by the . recovery of currency notes as~ well as the
presence of phenolphthalein powder on the hands of tl;le accused.
The learned Judge rejected the defence version that the currency G
notes were planted when the appellant had gone into the bath room. ·
The learned Judge accordingly convicted and sentenced the appellant
as mentioned bereinbefore. '

' H
The appellant having unsuccessfully appealed to the Rajasthan
High Court, has filed this appeal by special leave.
1.
574 SUPREME COURT REPORTS · [1983J 1 s.c....
.'
A Mr. Frank Anthony, learned counsel for the appellant contend-
ed that there are certain features of this case which would convin-
cingly show that the prosecution case cannot be· accepted. He enu-
merated the circumstances as : (i) absence of name ofthe appellant
in the F.I.R. Ext. P-12; tiiJ absence of evidence of demand as 00
November 20, 1974.; (iii) absence of any prior arrangement where
B and when the complainant was to' meet the appellant aµd, therefore,
the trap could not be successfully arranged wbJ!ih might permit an
inference that the whole story of · ac.ceptance of . bribe money is
concocted; (iv) further two motbirs P.W. I Ram Babu and P.W. 2
Kesfiar Mal were petty clerks specially selected by P.W. 3 Prahlad
Narayan ; (v) in their evidence they have tried to improve upon the
c prosecution version which shows their unconcealed ·interest in the
·Success of the trap. which would render them partisan witnesses·;
(vi) there are certain omissions in ·the evidence of the prosecution
witnesses which may indicate that the defence v_ersion of planting the
e
0

currency notes when th appellant had gone to. bath room is proba-
bilised ; (vii) that no inference be drawn from the fact that when
D hands of th,e appellant _were dipped in the sodium carbonate solution
it turned ·pink because admittedly when hands of. the accused were
caught by the members ofthe raiding party one or the other of them
may have transmitted phenolphihalein powder to the hands of the
appellanl. .
E Complainant Rajendra Dutt on ·whose complaint a trap was
arranged was dead by the time the case came ·up for .trial and his
evidence was not available to the prosecution. However,' the ·
complaint Ext. P-12-filed by him was adm.itted in evidence because
P.W. 7 Mahavir Prasad, the Dy SP who recorded the same gave
evidence about the same. The averments in the complaint even in
F the background of these facts would not provide substantive evidence
and the only use to which it can be p.ut is that a coinplaint of this
nature was filed which tends. to explain the subsequent actions taken
' .
by the DySP.
'
High Court has examined the evidence of two motbirs P.W. 1
G
Ram Babu and P.W. 2 Keshar Mal, and also the evidence of P.W. 7
Mahavir Prasad and agreed-with the findings recorded by the trial·
court. We neecf not examine the evidence afresh but limit our
examination to specific contentions raised by Mr. Antho·ny.
H
The-first contentfon is that the name of the appellant Kishan
Chand M~ngal is not to be found in Exi. P-12. That is true, but

•
•
KISBAN CHAND V. RAJASTHAN (Desai, J.) 57S

what is.stated in Ext. P-12 is that a F~ctory Inspector accompani- A
ed by his friend visited the factory of the appellant and demand.ed a
• ;! bribe. Now, the appellant in his evidence as.DW 1 ·has stated that
complainant Rajendra Dutt did come to his house on November ·22,
' 1974, arountl .- 4.30 p.m. ·Appellant further proceeds to say that
Rajendra ·Dutt had 8ome grievance against a clerk Singhal and
appellant insisted upon givil)g a written complaint at the time of the B
visit of Rajenqra Dutt; If Rajendra' Dutt, as is now contended
· wanteil to falsely implicate the accused there ·is no: reason why he'
. would not mention the name of the appellant in Ext. P-12.. On the
,. contrary the absence of'the name of the appellant in Ext. P-12 would
indicaie that probably the appellant had visit"d lhe factory <?f .
c
t . Rajendra Dutt after a long time and that js wliat transpi.res from
- Ext. P,J2 that the visit of the appellant was after a year and half.
to
It is !easonable infer that Rajendra Dutt did not know the name
of the appellant but· knew him by the desjgnation of his office as
Factory Inspector .. Therefore, the absence of name of Kishan Chand
Mangal in Ext. P-12 is hardly of any significance. . · · o·
( It was next contended that once Rajendra Dutt is not available
. for evidence there is no evidence as' to the demand of bribe on
· -November 20, 1974, and it is not open to the Court to spell out the
demand from thecontents of Ext. P-12. It is undo).lbtedly.true that.
Rajendra Dutt was dead before the commencement of trial. · It is
equally true that the F.l.R. lodged by him on November 22, 1974, E
-cannot be used as substantive evidence nor the contents of"the "report .
'I
can be said to furnish testimony against the appellant. Such an
F.I.R. would npt be ~overed by any of the' clauses of ss ... 32 and. 33
of the Evidence Act and would not be· admissible as substantive
evidence. The questidn still rem.ains whether. tqcre is ·any evidence
of demand of bribe on November 20, 1974, in this case. A fact may
F
be proved either b.y direct testimony or by circumstan'tial evidence.
If appellant did not visit the Factory of Rajendril Dutt on November
20; 1974, and made no overt~res demanding the bribe, on what
rational hypothesis can one explain the visit of Rajendra Dutt to the
office of Dy. SP;ACD on November 22, 1974, his producing currency G
notes worth Rs. 150 ; a superior officer like. the DySP, ACD, making
all arrangements for' the trap and the raiding party going to the
· house of the accused oil November 22, 1974. 'The visit of Rajendra ·
. Dutt soon followed by the. raiding party at the house of the accused
on November 22, I 974, is.admitted. Coupled ivith this, the fact that lI
Kesbar'Mal, P.W. 2 in bis evidence stated that after Raj~ndra Dutt
ent~red tl!e fQQm in which appellant was sitting, Rajendra Dutt on
516
• . SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1983] I S.C.R•
.
entering the room asked the appellant, 'Hallo, how do yon do'. He
further stated that the appellant replied, 'I am sick and suffering
from cold'. He deposed that thereafter, the appellant asked, 'Have
you brought the money', whereupon' complainant Rajendra Dutt
replied, 'Yes, I have brought the money'. He further stated that
thereafter Rajendra Dutt took out the amount of currency notes ·
B from his diary and gave the same to the appellant who took the
' amount and kept it under the pillow on the cot. If there was no ·
prior demand the sub-sequent events remain unexplained as also the
demand as deposed to by P.W. 2 Keshar Mal. But Mr. Anthony
.urged that this part of the evidence of Keshar Mal cannot be accept-
ed because he bas not stated lb.is fact in bis statement recorded in
c the course of investigation. Simultaneously it was pointed out that .
the other motbir _Ram Babu is totally silent in -his evidence
about this conversation· between the appellant and the complainant.
Undoubtedly, the omission in the police statement of Keshar Mal and
non-mentioning all t.hese facts by the co-motbir would raise some
doubt in the mind of the court about this conversation but as pointed
D
out earlier there are tell-tale circumstances which do indicate that
there m11st_ have been a demand and, therefore, these circumstances
as herein before set out will render support to the statement of
Keshar Mal that the demand at the time of visit of Rajendra Dutt
must be pursuant to earlie~. ~emand by the appellant. Toherefore, it ·
E is not proper to say that there is no evidence of the demand of bribe
as on November 20, I 974.
•
It was next contended that if a bribe is demanded and agreed to
b~ paid and if the complainant was coiitemplaiing °'?t to pay the
bribe but was thinking of initiating action against the officer demand-
F
ing t.he bribe, obviously for the success of the trap to be arranged the
time and place of meeting would be arranged and if it be so it would be
mentioned in the F.I.R. I_t was said that the very absence of it would
show that there was neither a demand of bribe nor any action was
contemplated on November 20, 1974, as is now sought to be made
G. out and, therefore, the court should not accept any evidence with
regard to the trap. In view of the adm_ission of the appellant in his
evidence that Rajendra Dutt followed by a r~iding party came to his
house also used as residence-cum-office . around 4.30 p.m. on
November 22, I 974, omission to mention about the time and place
offuture meeting in the F.I.R. Ext. P-12 loses all significance. It is
equally possible that on the very day when the appellant visited the
factory of Raje11dra Putt and demanded bribe, Rajendra Dutt may
KiSHAN CHAND v. RAJASTHAN (Desai, J.)
577·.

not have immediately planned to rush to the. Anti Corruption ' A
' Department. He had declined to give the bribe. In·· his view his
factory was not covered by .the . Factories Act. These are the aver-
ments in Ext. P-12. They are not being relied upon as substantive
evidence but are used to explain the conduct of Rajendra Dutt which·
has evidentiarY value. If Rajendra Dutt did not negotiate giving the
bribe and did not agree to give tire bribe though the appellant persis-
ted in the demaf!d and threatened to involve him in cQurt cases the
question of any arrangement for any time and place for giving th.e
bribe does not arise and obviously it could riot· have found its place
in .the F.l.R. Such things lind mention in a F.I.R. only when the
victim.agrees to grease the palms of the officer. Absence in such a
situation of such averments in ·Ext. P-12 in this case is both natural
c-
~-· and obvious.
. •.
The next contention is that once Rajendra Dutt is not'available
. to give evidence not only of the first demand 'but alSo the payment
of bribe pursuant to the demand, t~e evidence of two inotbirs D. ,
assumes considerable i~portance. It was· urged that both . the
motbirs are some petty clerks and it ·would be both unwise and
.dangerous to place impiicit relian'ce on their testimony to convict the ·
Government servant. Factually 'It is not correct to say that both the
·motbirs are petty clerks. Ram Babu was serving as a clerk in the
Central Bank of India and Keshar Mal was serving as a teacher in E
Middle School at the relevant time. It is unfort~nate that thirty five
years after independence aiui'in this age of conimon man, there is
still not the eclipse of the high brow. Sanctity of word' made dep~n-
. c;lent upon the office held or wealth acquired is a nauseating pheno-
menon. Truth ·is neither the monopoly nor the preserve of the
affluent or of highly placed persons. In a country where renuncia- F
tion is worshipped and the grandeur and wild display of wealth
frowned upon, it would be the travesty of truth if persons coming
from humble origin and belonging to officewise, wealthwise lower
strata of society are to be disbeliev'ed or rejected as unworthy of
belief solely.on the grpund of their humble position in society. The
converse unfortunately appears to be true .. The submission was G
sought to.be buttressed by reference to Khairati Lal v. The State(').
A learned single judge of the High Court rejected the testimony in
that case of P.W. 2 Brij Nandan and P.W. 3 Krishan Kumar observ-
ing tbat they ~re petty clerks_ and cannot be styled as ilidependent
{ witnesses. We have moved far away in seventeen years and this ff
<I) (l.965) I Delhi· 1.:~w Times, 36~.
578 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [!983j 1-S.C.R.

A approach does not commend to us. We say no more. Therefore,
v.:ithout further discussing this aspect, we are utterly disinclined to
reject the testimony of the two motbirs accepted as wholly reliable by
the learned Special 'Judge .and the High Court on the sole ground
that they are petty clerks' as if that by itself is sufficient to reiect
tlieir testimony. That is a wholly irrelevant consideration.
B
As a second string to the bow it was urged that Ram Babu,
was serving at.the relevant time as a Clerk in the Central Bank of
India and Keshar Mal was a t~acher in -the mi'Cldle _school at Ajmer
and both of them were, therefore, by virtue of their service, likely
to be under the police infiuence. It is difficult to appreciate' this -
0 contention. Undoubtedly Ram Babu was.a Clerk in a nationalised
bank and it may be that officers of Anti Corruption Department
may have jurisdiction to investigate lapses on the part of clerks in
nationalised banks. It is not clear' whether Keshar Mal who was ·
serving in· a Middle School was a GovernIJlent' emyloyee or the
school itself was a Government School. 1t inay be that the school
D may be receiving grant_ but if all institutions which receive grant
from Government and are, therefore,,styled as Government Depart-
ments, and have to be treated under the police influence then the net
- will have to be spread so wide not to excluoe any one as indepen-
dent of police infiuence. We find no justification in the s_ubmission
E that the two motbirs were, persons not, likely to be independent of -
police infiuence. Both of them-have been accepted as independent
witnesses and they do satisfy the test of witnesses independent of
police infiuence. Reference in this connection was made to Raghbir
Singh, v. State of P.unjab('), wherein this Court adversely commented
__ upon selecting one Makhan, a sweeper in the whole time employment
F of· police, as a witness in a trap case observing that the Anti Corrup-
. tion Department should insist on observing the safeguard of selecting
independent persons as witnesses as scrupulously as possible for the
protection of the p,ublic servants against whom a trap may have to
be laid. Makhail, a sweeper in the whole time employment of police.
can obviously not be said to be independent of police infiuence but
G how does he compare with a clerk in a nationalised ba,nk and a
teacher in ·a middle school? ·1t, therefore, cannot be said tl:iat the
two mothirs could not be stYied as independent witnesses. In
passing it was submitted that Rajendra Dutt and Ram Babu must '
have intimately-known each other because Rajendra D,iltt had an
H account in the same branch i~ which Ram Babu was working _as
_______ ,
(I) AIR 1976 SC 91.
KISHAN CHAND v. RAJASTHA" (De~ai, )) 579

clerk. If a Bank Clerk is supposed fo be intimately connected with A
each account holder · in the bank, banking service would receive
,r encomiums from the society. But it is difficult to accept the submission
that on this account Ram Babu could not be said .to be independent
witness and let it be recalled that by the time Ram Babu came to
give evidence Rajendra Dutt was already dead.
8
The next contention is that even if Ram Babu and K:eshar.Mal
are independent witnesses there are certain inherent infirmities in
their evidence which would' render their evidence untrustworthy of·
belief. Before we examine .this submission in detail let it be reiterated
that the learned special judge who tried the case and bad seen both
these witnesses giving evidence has observed /that P.W. 1 Ram Bab~
c
and P.W. 2 Keshar Mal ·are independent witnesses and there. is
nothing)n their testimony which may induce any distrust about the
facts stated by them and their evidence was relied upon. The learned
judge of the High Court observed that both the witnesses are
. independent witnesses. and there is no reason why _their evidence
should not be relied upon.
D

It is now time to briefly refer to some of the omissions and
contradictions brought to our notice with a view to persuading us to
reject the testimony of both these witnesses. It was pointed.9ut that
according to Ram Babu both he and Keshar Mal told the DySP E
that the currency notes were under the pillow while according to '
Keshar Mal it was Ram Babu who pointed out that the currency
.notes were under the pillow. We find· no contradiction in this state-
ment because if plur,al used by Ram Babu was to be relied upon as a
contradiction, cross-examina.tion ought to have been directed on this
point. It is n,ecessary to point out that the cross-examination of
F
both the witnesses is scrappy; jumpy and not ·pursuant to any set
theory of defence~ It is worthwhile ·to note that there is not the
slightest. challenge to. the statement of both these. witnesses that while
waiting in the lobby outside the room both of them saw' Rajendra
Dutt giving marked currency notes to .the appellant and app~llant G
· accepting the same and keeping .them underneath the pillow ..·It was
· also urged that both the witnesses in their respective statements'in
the course of investigation have not referred 'that they pointed out
th.at the currency notes .were kept under the pillow. A further
omission was pointed out that while Mahavir , Prasad has stated H
that accused started quarrelling.with him which necessitated ~ummon
ing additional police help, both tl:ie wit11~sses while referring fo th~
580 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1983) I S.C.R,
A quarrel picked up by the appellant so as to support the evidence of
Mahavir Prasad have failed to refer to this aspect in their statements
in the course inve.stigation. These are omissions of trivial details
and have hardly any bearing on the main part of the prosecution
case. Along with 't]lis the earlier omission in the statement of
8 Keshar Mal already discussed was reiterated. In. our opinion the
so-called inner variations between the evidence of these two witnesses
and omissions of trivial details would not cause any dent in the
testimony of these two witnesses. Mr. Anthony after referring to
Darshan Lalv. Delhi Administration('), urged that if Mahavir Prasad
took search of the appellant for recovering the bribe it would show·
c that neither Ram Babu nor Keshar Mal had seen appellant keeping
marked currency notes under th~ pillow. Such an inference cannot
be drawn. Ordinarily the police officer would start searching the
person of appellant and while he was doing that act, he was told
where the currency notes were kept by the appellant. Therefore, no
such inference is permissible.
D
It was lastly urged that the court should not be influenced by
the'fact that when .the hands of the appellant were .dipped in a
solution of sodium carbonate it turned pink which would affirma-
tively show the presence of phenolphthalein powder on the tips of
E· fingers of the hands of the appellant. The. fact ·remains that the
solutimfdid turn pink when the hands of the appellant were dipped
in it. The explanation of the appellant is that both bis hands were
caught by the members of the raiding party and it is possible that >
the members of the raiding party whose hands must have already
been soiled with the phenolphthalein powder when the arrangements
F were being made for laying the trap they must have transmitted the
same to the band~ of the accused .. This contention stands b.elied by , '
the evidence on record. Mahavir Prasad bas deposed that he asked~
one Ganga Singh to demonstrate the phenolphthalein powder test.
After that he was dire~ted to wash his hands. No other member of
. the raiding party touched the phenolph_thalein powder at the time of
G demonstration. Ganga Singh was a member of the raiding party but
when the hands of the accused were sought to be dipped in the
solution tbis task was assigned to SI Satya Narain. Undoubtedly
there is nothing to show that his hands were soiled with phenolph-
thalein powder. The hands of Rajendra Dutt must have been soiled with
H
!I) AIR 1974 SC 218.
KISHAN CHAND •• RAJASTHAN (Desai, J.) 581

· phenalphthaleih powder because he took out the currency notes from A
his diary and passed them on to the appellant. But it is not suggested
that Rajendra Dutt caught the hands of the appellant. Therefore, it
is not possible to accept the submission that when the hands of the
appellant were caught in the ensuing quarrel between him and the
DySP Mahavir· Prasad, phenolphthalein' powder must have been
transmitted by . persons holding the hands ·of the appellant. This 8
'tell-tale· circumstance would lend ·ample independent corroboration
• if there be any need to the evidence of Ram Babu and Keshar Mal
that they saw Rajendra Outt giving marked currency . ~otes to the
,

-,
appellant and 'the appellant accepting the same aod.puUiog them
underneath the pillow.
c
Mr. Anthony urged that there are' certain tell-tale circumstances
in the case which would render the defence plausible. It was urged
that the appellant did not disclose any guilty syndrome when the
' raiding party entered his ro'om and at the first question he denied
<
having accepted any bribe from Rajendra Dutt. How would these D
two circumstances be sufficient to reject ihe otherwise reliable
_ testimony ?- A person with a strong will would not be upset and
may remain cool and collected. The appellant did pick up a quarrel
with the DySP. Why? His suggestion that he insisted oit two in-
dependent witnesses being kept present appears to be an afterthought.
The fact that the appellant picked up a quarrel is borne out from the E
evidence of the persol)s present·there and by the action of the DySP
In summoning additional police help°.· Therefore, we find no circum-
stances which would impinge upon the prosecution case .
... .. F
We read the entire evidence of two motbirs Ram Babu and·
~ Keshar Ma!, evidence of DySP Mahavir Prasad, Ext. P-12, the
·
, .
· F.I.R., and we are in agreement with the High Court that the case ·
has been proved beyond a shadow · of reasonable doubt. The
evidence of appellant himself does not raise a plausible defence and
has been rightly negatived.

Mr. Anthony further urged that the appellant did not demand
bribe because there is no such ·evidence and that even if. Rajeodra
Dutt appears to have given some currency notes the appellant was an H
uowillfog victim and the court must frown upon such attempts of
the police to make governmel!t servants commit offence. He relie<l·
582 SUPREME COURT REPORTS. (1983] I s.c.a.

upon the oft quoted passage in Brannan v. Peek('). In that case the
finding was that when the second time the police constable attempted
.to give a bet the accused showed his reluctance to accept the same.. '!-, '
That was also the finding of the justices. The Court frowned upon
the police officel'S in the absence of an Act of Parliament going to
the place of the accused so as to induce him to commit an offence.
B We fail to see how this observation has any relevance in ·the facts of
this case. Once the suggestion that there was a demand of bribe is
accepted the appellant could not be said to be an unwilling victim
nor a fence sitter who was induced to fall a victim. to the trap. '

c Lastly it was urged that the court would not be justifiedni
raising a presumption under S. 4 (1) of. the Prevention of Corrup·
tion Act, 1947. In the facts of this case and in the absence of pre-
sumption even if Rajeddra Dutt .gave some money to the appellant
that by itself would not establ,ish the .offence and the case must fail.
Reliance was placed on Ba.nsi Lal Yadav v. State of Blhar('). In that
D case the defence of the accused was that currency notes were thrust
in his pocket. Taking cue from this statement, the court held
that the acceptance of an amount other than legal remuneration
having been admitted the presumption would arise under S. 4(1) and
the burden would shift to the accused. It is in this context that this
court held that where the accused says that involuntarily the amount
E was thrust in his pocket he could nc;it be said to have accepted or
obtained for himself any gratification other than legal remuneration
which alone permits the presumption to be raised. Facts in this
case being a demand and voluntarily acceptance, the presumption

F
would squarely arise and has been rightly raised.

•
...
Reliance was also plaeed on the decision of this Court in · ../'.. ..
Sultan· Singh'·v. State of Rajasthan(3). In that case the explanation/
of the appellanl was that Rs. 100 was paid to him towards the arrears
of revenue and in the. absence of reliable evidence to the contrary '"
the explanation was held acceptable. .This is a decision on the facts
G
of that case and would be hardly of any assistance in dealing with
the points raised in this case.

B (I) [1947] 2 All E.R. 572 at 574.
(2) AIR 1981 SC .1235.
(3) Crl. Appeal No. ~6 of !967 detjded OD July 28, }969.
' -
KISHAN CHAND v. RAJASTHAN (Desai, J.) .
.
583.
• A
Therefore, the charge is brought home to the accused and he
has been rightly convicted and the sentence awarded being the
minimum, n_o case is' made out for interfering wit~ the same.

Accordingiy this appeal fails and is dismissed. The baiLbond
·of the appellant is cancelled and he must surrender to serve out the
sentence. B

H.L.C. , Appeal dismissed.

-
...

'