TMI Blog1956 (3) TMI 37X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lerk in the Railway at Saharanpur, was deputed by the Station Master to help the Police party. It is alleged by the prosecution that during the progress of the investigation, and after the houses and shops of the accused persons had been searched, Ram Kishan took Labhu Ram aside and proposed that the three firms would be prepared to pay ₹ 2,000 if the case was hushed up and that Madan Lal was to be sounded. Madan Lal refused to have anything to do with such a proposal, but as the accused persisted in their offer, it was ultimately decided that a trap should be laid for them at Delhi in Madan Lal's house. It is unnecessary to narrate in detail the steps taken in connection with this plan. The trap succeeded. The three accused and Labhu Ram were at Delhi on the morning of the 29th December and an increased sum of ₹ 5,000 was paid in the shape of currency notes to Madan Lal by Ram Kishan while two police officers and a Magistrate were hearing the conversation from an adjoining room and saw the payment through a hole in the door. The appellants were charged under section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code for criminal conspiracy to cause the offence of criminal miscon ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ial and not heinous. To appreciate the first contention it is necessary to pay attention to the language of section 5 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which is in these terms:- S. 5(1) A public servant is said to commit the offence of criminal misconduct in the discharge of his duty,- (a)if he habitually accepts or obtains or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain from any person for himself or for any other person, any gratification (other than legal remuneration) as a motive of reward such as is mentioned in section 161 of the Indian Penal Code, or (b)if he habitually accepts or obtains or agrees to accept or attempts to obtain for himself or for any other person, any valuable thing without consideration or for a consideration which he knows to be inadequate, from any person whom he knows to have been, or to be, or to be likely to be concerned in any proceeding or business transacted or about to be transacted by him, or having any connection with the official functions of himself or of any public servant to whom he is subordinate, or from any person whom he knows to be interested in or related to the person so concerned, or (c)if he dishonestly or fraudulently mi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cceptance of a bribe by a public servant. Before it can be made applicable there must be proof, it was said, that the public servant adopted corrupt or illegal means and thereby obtained for himself or for any other person any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage. To force a bribe out of an unwilling person is different from the acceptance of a bribe from a voluntary giver and that before a charge under section 5(1), sub-clause (d) could be sustained, there must be threat or inducement, or promise proceeding from the public servant or duress or extortion practised by him to obtain the pecuniary advantage. This argument proceeds upon the footing that the Act seeks to create and creates an independent offence distinct from simple bribery. In one sense, this is no doubt true but it does not follow that there is no overlapping of offences. We have primarily to look at the language employed and give effect to it. One class of cases might arise where corrupt or illegal means are adopted or pursued by the public servant to gain for himself a pecuniary advantage. The word obtains , on which much stress was laid does not eliminate the idea of acceptance of what is given or offered to be g ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... railway servant, not being a public servant as defined in section 21 of the Indian Penal Code shall be deemed to be a public servant for the purposes of Chapter IX and section 409 of that Code . Sub-section (4) has now been omitted. The Prevention of Corruption Act provides by section 2 that For the purposes of this Act, 'public servant' means a public servant as defined in section 21 of the Indian Penal Code . The result is that before the amendment, railway servants were treated as public servants only for the purposes of Chapter IX of the Indian Penal Code but now as the result of the amendment all railway servants have become public servants not only for the -limited purposes but generally under the Prevention of Corruption Act. It has been stated already that a trap was laid for catching the appellants and this circumstance, according to the learned counsel for the appellants, should be taken into account in the matter of sentence. In this connection, our attention was invited to the well-known and weighty observations of Lord Goddard, C.J. in Brennan v. peek([1947] 2 All E.R. 572.) where his Lord-ship expressed the hope that the day is far distant when it wil ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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