Court acquits Delhi Police Sub-Inspector of bribery charges

A court here has acquitted a Delhi Police Sub-Inspector of the charges of bribery after the complainant admitted that he himself had planted the money bag in the drawer of his table at the insistence of Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials.
Special Judge Narottam Kaushal, while acquitting Sub-Inspector Anuj Chhikara, said, "I am of the opinion that accused is entitled to benefit of doubt as charge of demand and conscious acceptance of bribe is not proved beyond reasonable doubt. He is accordingly acquitted of all the charges."
The court observed that as per the law, it was imperative that the prosecution proves that there was conscious demand and acceptance of bribe by the accused.

"This court is of the considered opinion that there is absolutely no evidence on record regarding demand or conscious acceptance of bribe by the accused," it said.
According to the prosecution, Hari Kishan, a cab driver, had filed a complaint with ACB, alleging that on February 26, 2013, he was falsely implicated in an FIR lodged at Punjabi Bagh police station and his cab was impounded by the police.
After being released on bail, Kishan alleged that when he went to get his cab released, Chikkara, who was the Investigating Officer, demanded Rs 10,000 as bribe from him for preparing a report to release his vehicle.

After Kishan's complaint, a trap was laid by ACB and the raiding team arrested Chikkara for accepting the bribe amount which was recovered from the drawer of his table.
The cop pleaded innocence before the court and denied the charges of demanding and accepting the bribe.
During the trial, Kishan, however, resiled from his earlier statements and said that the accused police officer did not demand any bribe from him and he himself had placed the chemically treated currency notes in his drawer on the insistence of raiding officer of anti-corruption team to establish that bribe was paid.