Bribery case outlives the very municipal body where it began

The state, however, filed an appeal seven years later, which remained pending until its final disposal this week.

Justice EV Venugopal dismissed the state’s appeal challenging the 2013 verdict of the Special Judge for Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Cases, which had acquitted the accused. (Representative image)

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has finally drawn curtains on a bribery case that lingered in the judicial system for nearly 20 years by upholding the acquittal of a former junior assistant in the tax section of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH).

Justice EV Venugopal dismissed the state’s appeal challenging the 2013 verdict of the Special Judge for Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Cases, which had acquitted the accused. The appeal was filed by the Inspector of Police, ACB, City Range-II, Hyderabad.

The case traces back to February 2005, when B Srinivas, a resident of Begumpet, approached MCH for mutation of a recently purchased property. The prosecution claimed that the accused officer demanded a Rs 500 bribe to process the application. Srinivas refused and subsequently lodged a complaint, prompting the ACB to set a trap.

Though the accused was arrested, and the prosecution claimed to have established demand and acceptance of the bribe under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the trial court in 2006 acquitted him, citing failure to prove key elements of the offence. The state, however, filed an appeal seven years later, which remained pending until its final disposal this week.

In the high court, the state argued that the trial court had erred despite evidence pointing to both demand and acceptance. The defence maintained that no official favour was due at the time of the alleged incident and highlighted the complainant’s admission during cross-examination that the complaint stemmed from a personal grievance after the accused insisted on proper documentation.

Upholding the acquittal, Justice Venugopal noted that the complainant had “categorically admitted” to acting with ill-intent. “This court does not see any reason or ground to interfere with the well-reasoned and well-founded judgment of the Special Judge,” the order read.

With the HC’s ruling, the legal proceedings that began in 2005 have now drawn to a close, bringing an end to a case that outlasted the very municipal body where it began.