Government Official Accused Of Corruption Acquitted By CBI Court

The Special Court for CBI cases here has discharged a DRI official and his driver, said to be a conduit, from a corruption case.

A K Mehbub Alikhan, XIII Additional Special Judge for CBI cases acquitted C Rajan (A1), the then Additional Director General of Chennai Zone of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and his driver M Murugesan(A2), recently.

The charge against Rajan and his driver M Murugesan was that Rajan had demanded a bribe of Rs 10 lakh and an Apple I-Pad for not detaining an accused under COFEPOSA and to defreeze his bank accounts.

The accused lodged a complaint and the CBI registered a case under Sec. 120-B of the IPC (criminal conspiracy) and various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA).

After listening to the arguments of both the sides, the judge found that on the whole, the evidence of the prosecution witness (PW3) is unbelievable considering the other evidence and documents available in this case. He cannot be oblivious of the fact that there is nothing to corroborate his evidence but on the other hand the available evidence clearly contradicts his version and so this court has concluded that his evidence is unbelievable.

"The cumulative analysis of the evidence available in this case shows that the contradictions that glare on the face and go to the very root of this case cannot be ignored and that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the guilt of the accused. Therefore, this court is of the considered opinion that there is absolutely no material to show that there was any demand or acceptance of bribe by A1 or by A2 on behalf of A1 and that the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of both A1 and A2 under sections 120-B IPC and sections 7 and 13(2) r/w 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act," the judge said and ordered their acquittal under Sec. 248(1) of the CRPC.