TMI Blog1968 (11) TMI 110X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t aside the order of acquittal in respect of the appellant and convicted her for offences punishable under ss. 3(1) and 4(1) of the Act. She was sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of ₹ 200/-, (in default to suffer further rigorous imprisonment for six months) and to suffer rigorous imprisonment for six months on the second count, the sentences of imprisonment being concurrent. The prosecution case was that on receiving complaints from several residents of the locality a raiding party was organised.The services of a decoy witness Kishan Taumal were requisitioned and he agreed to work as the punter. After ascertaining that he had no money he was given ₹ 8/- in all. That amount included a currency note of ₹ 5/- and three currency notes of Re. 1/- each, the numbers of notes having been noted down in the first part of the panchnama. The punter was instructed to hand over the amount for the charges that would have to be paid for having sexual intercourse with any girl or woman in the appellant's house. He was, however, only to engage himself in talk not the actual act. A panch witness Prem Singh Hiraji was also to accompany the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ithout obtaining the search warrant might not be done, which was a matter of discretion, so far as the requisition of the services of the respectable inhabitants was concerned the direction was mandatory and the legislature by insisting on the presence of one woman mediator at the time of search had undoubtedly chosen to safeguard the interests of the persons with whom the Act was intended to deal. In that case the services of a woman mediator had not been requisitioned at all. The search was held to be altogether illegal with the result that the accused person in that case was acquitted and his acquittal was upheld by the High Court. In the present case two main defects have been pointed out in the matter of.search; one is that the special police Officer Shri Mankad has been found both by the Magistrate' and the High Court to have prepared the document Ext. 8/A long after the search. As found by the High Court this document contained reproduction of s. 15(1) and it hardly contained any ground on which the police officer had formed the belief with regard to the matters stated in sub-s.. (1 ). The other point which has been pressed on behalf of the appellant relates to contra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ) is not an illegality but is a mere irregularity then the sentence cannot be set aside unless it can be shown that such irregularity has caused failure of justice. As will be presently seen we are of the opinion that non-compliance with the directions contained in s. 15(2) in the matter of search would only be an irregularity and not such an illegality which will vitiate the trial. The decision in Delhi Administration v. Ram Singh(1) which concerned offences committed under the Act and on which reliance has been placed on behalf of the appellant involved a different point. There the police officer who had entered the premises where the offences were alleged to be committed was not a special police officer who alone is authorised to do the various things mentioned in the provisions of the Act. It was observed that the Act created new offences and provided for the forum before which they would be tried. Necessary provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure had been adopted fully or with modification. As the Act provided machinery to deal with the offences created the necessary implication must be that the new machinery was to deal with those offences in accordance with the provisio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... It was held by this Court (by the majority) that there was a contravention of s. 5A of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the first stage of investigation when the requisite permission of the magistrate had not been obtained but after the permission had been given there was practically a de novo. investigation. Therefore the accused not having been prejudiced by the illegality committed by the police, the conviction could not be set aside on the ground of mere irregularity or illegality in the matter of investigation. The following passage at p. 84 may be usefully reproduced :-- The High Court set aside the conviction on the ground that there was a breach of the mandatory safeguards of the Act in that the first stage of the investigation . was contrary to the provisions of the Act. But it did not consider the other question whether the said breach caused prejudice to the accused in the matter of his trial. In doing so, the High Court ignored the provisions of s. 537 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Having carefully gone through the record for the reasons aforesaid, we are satisfied that no such prejudice has been caused to the accused. He had a fair trial 'and had his ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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