{"id":288188,"date":"2023-03-30T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T06:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=288188"},"modified":"2023-03-30T11:22:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T05:52:32","slug":"circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt; Supreme Court set aside order of conviction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\tdocument.title = 'Circumstantial evidence can be relied on to prove demand of gratification under Corruption Act: SC reiterates |SCC Blog'\n\tdocument.querySelector('meta[name=\"description\"]').setAttribute(\"content\", \"SC reiterated that in absence of direct evidence for offences punished under Corruption Act, reliance can be placed on circumstantial evidence to prove demand of gratification\");\n<\/script><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\"><b>Supreme Court:<\/b> In a criminal appeal filed against order of the Delhi High Court upholding the order of conviction the Special Judge, Delhi, wherein the Court convicted the appellant\/convict for the offences punishable under Section 7 and clauses (i) and (ii) of Section 13(1)(d) read with Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564434\">13(2)<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002825997\">Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988<\/a> (&#8216;the PC Act&#8217;), the division bench of <b>Abhay S. Oka*<\/b> and Rajesh Bindal, JJ. reiterated that in absence of direct evidence for offences punished under Prevention of Corruption Act, reliance can be placed on circumstantial evidence to prove demand of gratification and set aside the order of conviction.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"color: #632423;\">Background<\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The co-accused was convicted by the Special Judge for the offence punishable under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564433\">12<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002825997\">PC Act<\/a>. The co-accused was acquitted by the High Court and the convict was sentenced to undergo a rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years and to pay a fine of Rs. 15,000\/- for offence under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564434\">13<\/a>(2) of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002825997\">PC Act<\/a> and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years and to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000\/ for offence under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564458\">7<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002825997\">PC Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">In the case at hand, the complainant has no electricity meter installed in his shop, therefore, he applied for an electricity meter. Pursuant to the application, a meter was installed in his shop and after a few months, he found that the meter was removed, as the shopkeepers in the area had got the electricity meters installed through the convict. Thereafter, the convict (Inspector in the electricity department in the local area) called the complainant.t her residence to discuss the issue of the electricity meter. She demanded Rs. 15,000\/- for getting the meter installed and ultimately after negotiations, she settled the demand at Rs. 10,000\/-.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Special Court held that there was sufficient circumstantial evidence on record to prove the guilt of the convict. The order of conviction by the Special Court has been confirmed by the High Court in the impugned judgment. Thus, the present appeal was filed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">While hearing this appeal, a two-Judge bench of this Court concluded that the decisions in <i>B. Jayaraj<\/i> v. <i>State of A.P.<\/i>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/JVJl42ls\">(2014) 13 SCC 55<\/a> and <i>P. Satyanarayana Murthy<\/i> v. <i>State of A.P.<\/i>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/gCJR4M5U\">(2015) 10 SCC 152<\/a> conflicted with an earlier three-Judge bench&#8217;s decision in the case of <i>M. Narsinga Rao<\/i> v. <i>State of A.P.<\/i>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/d31X932f\">(2001) 1 SCC 691<\/a>. Further, the question that &#8220;whether in the absence of evidence of complainant\/direct or primary evidence of demand of illegal gratification, is it not permissible to draw inferential deduction of culpability\/guilt of a public servant under Section 7 and Section 13(1)(d) read with Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564434\">13(2)<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002825997\">PC Act, 1988<\/a> based on other evidence adduce by the prosecution.&#8221; was referred for decision to a Constitution Bench, which held that in absence of the complaint&#8217;s testimony in a prosecution for offences punishable under Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564458\">7<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564434\">13(2)<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002825997\">PC Act<\/a>, the prosecution can rely upon even circumstantial evidence to prove the demand of gratification. The Constitution Bench has approved the above-mentioned decisions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\"><b>Issue:<\/b> Whether there is any direct evidence of demand, if not then whether there is any circumstantial evidence to prove the demand?<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"color: #632423;\">Analysis<\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court took note of Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564458\">7<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564434\">13<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002825997\">PC Act<\/a> and the aforesaid decision of the Constitution bench, and said that even the issue of presumption under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564442\">20<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002825997\">PC Act<\/a> has been answered by the Constitution Bench by holding that only on proof of the facts in issue, Section 20 mandates the Court to raise a presumption that illegal gratification was for the purpose of motive or reward as mentioned in Section 7.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Further, it said that the presumption under Section 20 can be invoked only when the two basic facts required to be proved under Section 7, are proved. Once the basic facts of the demand of illegal gratification and acceptance thereof are proved, unless the contrary is proved, the Court will have to presume that the gratification was demanded and accepted as a motive or reward as contemplated by Section 7. However, this presumption is rebuttable.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Placing reliance on <i>N. Vijayakumar<\/i> v. <i>State of T.N.<\/i>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/Xqi09SNW\">(2021) 3 SCC 687<\/a>, the Court said that the demand for gratification and its acceptance must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Further, it concluded that in absence of direct evidence, the demand and\/or acceptance can always be proved by other evidence such as circumstantial evidence. The allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant has to be established beyond a reasonable doubt, and the decision of the Constitution Bench does not dilute this elementary requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court said that there are no circumstances brought on record which will prove the demand for gratification. Therefore, it was held that the ingredients of the offence under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001564458\">7<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002825997\">PC Act<\/a> were not established and consequently, the offence under Section 13(1)(d) will not be attracted.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">[<span style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #632423;\">Neeraj Dutta v. State (NCT of Delhi), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-9001425627\">2023 SCC OnLine SC 280<\/a>, decided on 17-03-2023<\/span>]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 18pt;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">*Judgment by: Justice Abhay S. Oka<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"aslOrIpOGH\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/05\/25\/know-thy-judge-justice-abhay-oka-supreme-court-social-change-administrative-accountability-legal-knowledge-research-update-news\/\">Know Thy Judge | Justice Abhay S. Oka \u2013 Harbinger of Social Change and Preserver of Administrative Accountability<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Know Thy Judge | Justice Abhay S. Oka \u2013 Harbinger of Social Change and Preserver of Administrative Accountability&#8221; &#8212; SCC Blog\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/05\/25\/know-thy-judge-justice-abhay-oka-supreme-court-social-change-administrative-accountability-legal-knowledge-research-update-news\/embed\/#?secret=0GH5Ryo2Qv#?secret=aslOrIpOGH\" data-secret=\"aslOrIpOGH\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><i>Supreme Court said that when reliance is placed on circumstantial evidence to prove the demand for gratification, the prosecution must establish each and every circumstance from which the prosecution wants the Court to draw a conclusion of guilt.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67512,"featured_media":288196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[3433,2673,14071,56382,5363],"class_list":["post-288188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-supremecourt","tag-circumstantial_evidence","tag-corruption","tag-prevention-of-corruption-act","tag-proof-beyond-a-reasonable-doubt","tag-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt; Supreme Court set aside order of conviction | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a criminal appeal filed against order of the Delhi High Court upholding the order of conviction the Special Judge, Delhi, where in Court\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt; Supreme Court set aside order of conviction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a criminal appeal filed against order of the Delhi High Court upholding the order of conviction the Special Judge, Delhi, where in Court\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SCC Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-30T06:30:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-934.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"886\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"590\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Apoorva\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Apoorva\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/\",\"name\":\"Allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt; Supreme Court set aside order of conviction | SCC Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-934.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-30T06:30:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/288d814d0864b57168e08daa1940a1c9\"},\"description\":\"In a criminal appeal filed against order of the Delhi High Court upholding the order of conviction the Special Judge, Delhi, where in Court\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-934.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-934.png\",\"width\":886,\"height\":590,\"caption\":\"public servant\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt; Supreme Court set aside order of conviction\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SCC Times\",\"description\":\"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/288d814d0864b57168e08daa1940a1c9\",\"name\":\"Apoorva\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/549edb3ed2c7046a0c504583cf71db32c50251c1260a6331b2cc2973e80b0e91?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/549edb3ed2c7046a0c504583cf71db32c50251c1260a6331b2cc2973e80b0e91?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Apoorva\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/scc-editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt; Supreme Court set aside order of conviction | SCC Times","description":"In a criminal appeal filed against order of the Delhi High Court upholding the order of conviction the Special Judge, Delhi, where in Court","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt; Supreme Court set aside order of conviction","og_description":"In a criminal appeal filed against order of the Delhi High Court upholding the order of conviction the Special Judge, Delhi, where in Court","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/","og_site_name":"SCC Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/","article_published_time":"2023-03-30T06:30:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":886,"height":590,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-934.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Apoorva","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Apoorva","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/","name":"Allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt; Supreme Court set aside order of conviction | SCC Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-934.png","datePublished":"2023-03-30T06:30:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/288d814d0864b57168e08daa1940a1c9"},"description":"In a criminal appeal filed against order of the Delhi High Court upholding the order of conviction the Special Judge, Delhi, where in Court","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-934.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-934.png","width":886,"height":590,"caption":"public servant"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/03\/30\/circumstantial-evidence-can-be-relied-on-to-prove-demand-of-gratification-under-corruption-act-sc-reiterates-legal-research-legal-news-updates\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Allegation of demand of gratification and acceptance made by a public servant must be established beyond a reasonable doubt; Supreme Court set aside order of conviction"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/","name":"SCC Times","description":"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/288d814d0864b57168e08daa1940a1c9","name":"Apoorva","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/549edb3ed2c7046a0c504583cf71db32c50251c1260a6331b2cc2973e80b0e91?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/549edb3ed2c7046a0c504583cf71db32c50251c1260a6331b2cc2973e80b0e91?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Apoorva"},"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/scc-editor\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/MicrosoftTeams-image-934.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":302456,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/27\/motive-prevention-of-corruption-act-court-cannot-be-oblivious-to-presumption-section-20-supreme-court\/","url_meta":{"origin":288188,"position":0},"title":"Motive under Prevention of Corruption Act | Court cannot be oblivious to statutory presumption permissible under Section 20: Supreme Court","author":"Ridhi","date":"September 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court pointed out that the pre-trap and post-trap proceedings were duly proved by the prosecution in the instant matter through witnesses who supported the prosecution case.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"motive prevention of corruption act","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/motive-prevention-of-corruption-act.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/motive-prevention-of-corruption-act.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/motive-prevention-of-corruption-act.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/motive-prevention-of-corruption-act.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":370205,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/12\/18\/mere-recovery-of-tainted-money-insufficient-for-conviction-under-pc-act-bom-hc\/","url_meta":{"origin":288188,"position":1},"title":"Mere recovery of tainted money insufficient for conviction under PC Act: Bombay HC acquits officials of all charges","author":"Sunaina","date":"December 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cOffences under the PC Act require strict proof of twin elements of demand and acceptance and mere recovery of tainted currency or existence of electronic recordings, without reliable proof of demand, is insufficient to convict unless accompanied by credible proof of demand.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"mere recovery of tainted money insufficient for conviction","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/mere-recovery-of-tainted-money-insufficient-for-conviction.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/mere-recovery-of-tainted-money-insufficient-for-conviction.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/mere-recovery-of-tainted-money-insufficient-for-conviction.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/mere-recovery-of-tainted-money-insufficient-for-conviction.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":319732,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2024\/04\/08\/murder-convict-acquitted-by-jharkhand-high-court-after-eight-years-due-to-insufficient-circumstantial-evidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":288188,"position":2},"title":"Murder convict acquitted by Jharkhand High Court after eight years due to insufficient circumstantial evidence","author":"Editor","date":"April 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Court noted that the conviction was solely based on last seen evidence and it was not corroborated with any evidence, hence it could not be said to be just and proper.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jharkhand High Court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Jharkhand-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Jharkhand-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Jharkhand-High-Court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Jharkhand-High-Court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":279748,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/12\/16\/presumption-guilt-bribe-public-servant-absence-of-complainant-direct-evidence-circumstantial-evidence-supreme-court-constitution-bench-legal-news-updates-research\/","url_meta":{"origin":288188,"position":3},"title":"In absence of complainant&#8217;s direct evidence of bribe, presumption of Public Servant&#8217;s guilt can be drawn based on other evidence; holds SC Constitution Bench","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"December 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Constitution Bench of SA Nazeer, BR Gavai, AS Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian and BV Nagarathna, JJ has observed that the trial does not abate nor does it result in an order of acquittal of the accused public servant if the complainant turns \u2018hostile\u2019, or has died or is unavailable to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/MicrosoftTeams-image-522.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":142931,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2017\/07\/17\/mere-recovery-of-bribe-would-not-prove-charges-against-the-accused\/","url_meta":{"origin":288188,"position":4},"title":"Mere recovery of bribe would not prove charges against the accused","author":"Saba","date":"July 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court:\u00a0While deciding a criminal appeal preferred against the judgment of the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, a Bench comprising of Amitava, J., set aside the judgment and order of the High Court which had convicted a police officer of taking bribes. The appellant (now deceased and represented by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":336522,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2024\/12\/04\/not-necessary-for-presumption-under-s-20-pca-that-bribe-amount-be-substantial-sc\/","url_meta":{"origin":288188,"position":5},"title":"Presumption under Section 20 PCA does not require bribe amount to be \u2018substantial\u2019; Operates only when there is no nexus between demand and action: SC","author":"Editor","date":"December 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cBut, when the fact of receipt of payment or an agreement to receive the gratification stands proved, there is a clear case of nexus or corroboration and the presumption itself is irrelevant. Section 20 gets attracted when it is proved that the public servant has accepted or agreed to accept\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"presumption under Sec. 20 PCA","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/presumption-under-Sec.-20-PCA.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/presumption-under-Sec.-20-PCA.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/presumption-under-Sec.-20-PCA.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/presumption-under-Sec.-20-PCA.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67512"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}