BENGALURU: The Special Court for Lokayukta Cases acquitted the then Additional Registrar of Cooperative Societies, R Sridhar and First Division Assistant working under him, Pushpalatha, who had been trapped by the then Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 55,000 in 2018, as the prosecution has failed to prove the charges.
“Acting under Section 248(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, accused No.1 R Sridhar and accused No.2 Pushpalatha are acquitted for the offence punishable under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of (Amended Act, 2018) Corruption Act, 1988,” said Judge KM Radhakrishna while passing the orders to confiscate the tainted money of Rs. 55,000 by the state government.
Giving reasons for the acquittal, the court indicated that the prosecution had failed to prove its allegations and bring home the guilt of accused Nos.1 and 2 for the alleged offence beyond a reasonable doubt. Hence, it is a fit case for acquittal, the court added.
According to the prosecution, the application of the complainant, Laxman Eligera, for registration of his intended Bharatiya Sahakara Sangha Niyamitha was pending before the accused persons.
The first accused allegedly demanded an undue advantage of Rs 5 lakh for him and Rs 50,000 for her to do an official favour. Later, it was scaled down to Rs 3 lakh and 50,000.
Unable to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the ACB. On December 12, 2018, both the accused were trapped and arrested by the ACB after they had allegedly accepted Rs 55,000 from the complainant.