Nagpur: Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Rajesh Bindal at the Supreme Court suspended the sentence of conviction of the accused Bhaurao Ingole who was convicted under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act by the District & Sessions Judge, Washim.
The accused was a headmaster in the school and he was charging Rs.2000 from each student at the time of admission in compliance of the School Secretary order as donation/development fund. It was the grievance of the complainant that when his niece took admission, the accused had demanded Rs.2000 by way of illegal gratification and as such, the prosecution was triggered and the accused was convicted by the court at Washim.
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Thursday 09 Jan. 2025
The appeal so filed by the accused before the Court was also dismissed and the accused was sent to prison. Arguing on behalf of the accused, Adv Prakash Naidu apprised the Court that the mandates as had been a sine qua non were not complied with and the verification of demand was not done and in the absence of verification of demand, no conviction could have been attributed to and precisely since the accused had maintained the details of the amounts so received from the students at the rate of Rs.2000 each in the payment register and which was done in compliance with the orders of the Secretary of the school and that after having received Rs.2000 from the complainant, the name of the complainant was also endorsed in the said register.
That apart, the prosecution had failed to explain as to why the digital voice recorder/tape recorded was not used to quantify and substantiate the aspect of alleged demand. In the absence of these mitigating circumstances, it was argued that the case of the prosecution could not be substantiated and as such, appreciating the contentions of the accused and also looking at his age aspect, the Apex Court proceeded to suspend the sentence and granted bail to the accused.
Advocate Prakash Naidu, along with Adv. Anagha Desai, Advocate On Record appeared on behalf of the accused.
