- (1.) The appellants Sukhwinder Singh and Gurdial Singh are aggrieved by the judgment and order dated 31.01.2007 by virtue of which they have been held guilty and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years and to pay a fine of Rs.3000/- and in default to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for three months under Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (for brevity, 'the Act') respectively, on the ground that appellant Sukhwinder Singh Patwari accepted illegal gratification for entering the mutation and appellant Gurdial Singh abetted in the offence.
(2.) The case of the prosecution, in nutshell, is that on 22.12.1998 complainant Surinder Singh and Sukhvir Singh reached the office of Vigilance Bureau Unit Ludhiana and informed DSP Sarup Singh that a civil court decree was passed in favour of Jasvir Kaur, his brother's wife on 06.06.1998. As directed by the Court, the decree was got registered on 27.11.1998. The complainant approached the Patwari for its entry in the revenue record, but mutation was not entered. He met Sukhwinder Singh Patwari, who demanded Rs.5000/-, but finally agreed to accept Rs.4000/-. Accused Sukhwinder Singh asked the complainant to give the money either to him or to Gurdial Singh who was then sitting in his office. He was told that Gurdial Singh used to accept bribe money on his behalf. The complainant did not want to pay the amount of the illegal gratification and informed the Vigilance Bureau and made statement Ex.PJ. The complainant produced six currency notes of denomination of Rs.500/- each and ten currency notes of Rs.100/- each. Phenolphthalein powder was applied on the same. Their numbers were noted. The same were handed over to the complainant for passing it to the accused on the demand. Sukhbir Singh was deputed as the shadow witness. He was directed to overhear the conversation and give the appointed signal when the accused accepted the bribe money. Intimation was sent to the police station Vigilance Bureau for registration of the case.
(3.) On the way the raiding party associated Vinod Kumar, Senior Assistant from the office of PWD(B&R), Ludhiana as a private witness and was introduced to the complainant and the shadow witness and he was told the purpose of the raid. The complainant and shadow witness had been asked to go to the office of accused on foot. Both of them entered the office of the Patwari, while the other members of the raiding party remained outside. The bribe money was paid to Sukhwinder Singh Patwari, who further passed it on to Gurdial Singh. On receiving the appointed signal from the shadow witness, the raiding party entered the office. On personal search, the tainted currency notes were recovered from the left pocket of coat worn by Gurdial Singh. The currency notes were checked and they tallied with the numbers noted on the memo. The same were taken into possession. Personal search of the accused was also made. Hand wash of both Gurdial Singh and Sukhwinder Singh were taken and the solution turned pinkish. Likewise, pocket of the coat worn by Gurdial Singh was dipped into the solution, which turned pinkish. Investigations were completed. After obtaining the sanction, the challan was presented and the accused were put to trial. Charge was framed under Section 13(1)(d) 2 read with Section 7 of the Act against Sukhwinder Singh and accused Gurdial Singh was charged under Section 9 of the Act, to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.;