Observing that merely sitting on the back of a motorcycle while the rider accepts a bribe does not constitute an overt act of abetment, a special CBI court on Monday discharged one of the accused in an alleged Rs 25 lakh bribery case in which Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) superintendent Dhirendra Kumar is an accused.
After negotiations, the alleged demand was reduced first to Rs 80 lakh and then to Rs 50 lakh, to be paid in two instalments of Rs 25 lakh each on April 20 and April 21.
The prosecution said Kumar insisted that the money had to be delivered the same day, failing which the businessman would be arrested. The prosecution also relied on a voice identification panchnama, claiming that a recorded conversation showed Sankhal saying that he was a servant of “Sir”, referring to Kumar, and assuring the complainant that the businessman would not be arrested. The court noted the prosecution allegation that Kumar signalled the associate to hand over the money to the two bikers. The order records that Sankhal allegedly accepted the bag containing the bribe amount and then left the spot along with Kumar and Shaikh.
The prosecution case was that Kumar allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 1 crore from a bullion trader on April 20, 2023, while he was in custody.
Kumar threatened the businessman with arrest if the demand was not met, according to CBI. When he initially said that no relative or friend was available, Kumar allegedly started preparing arrest papers to put pressure on him. Mohd Shaikh was discharged from the offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court, however, refused to discharge another accused, Antop Hill-based jeweller Amritlal Sankhla, finding that there were grounds to proceed against him for allegedly receiving the bribe amount on behalf of the CGST officer. The order noted that the businessman was asked to make a WhatsApp call to a relative. The man then called his associate on WhatsApp.
Mumbai: Observing that merely sitting on the back of a motorcycle while the rider accepts a bribe does not constitute an overt act of abetment, a special CBI court on Monday discharged one of the accused in an alleged Rs 25 lakh bribery case in which Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) superintendent Dhirendra Kumar is an accused.