Jaipur, March 21 In a significant relief to former District Collector Nannumal Pahadiya, the Rajasthan High Court has quashed the bribery case pending against him in the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court.
The order was issued by Justice Ganeshram Meena on Thursday ruling that the prosecution failed to present concrete evidence of Pahadiya demanding or accepting a bribe.
The High Court, in its ruling, noted that the ACB was unable to establish any clear proof of bribery allegations against Pahadiya.
The judgment stated: "It appears that the petitioner was made an accused merely to sensationalize the case and conduct a media trial because he was a senior IAS officer. Prosecuting an official without substantial evidence cannot be permitted, as it could allow complainants to misuse the legal system and exert undue pressure on public servants."
The court emphasised that under the Prevention of Corruption Act, the prosecution must provide clear evidence showing that a government official misused their position to demand or accept a bribe.
However, in this case: "There was no direct evidence that Pahadiya demanded a bribe, no proof that he received any money, no pending work of the complainant was under Pahadiya’s authority that could justify a bribery demand, the ACB did not conduct a trap operation against him, and no recovered amount was linked to Pahadiya.
The case originated from a complaint by Iqbal Singh, whose company was working on the Delhi-Vadodara Expressway. Singh alleged that Nannumal Pahadiya, the then District Collector of Alwar, demanded Rs 4 lakh per month as a bribe. Ashok Sankhla (Land Management Officer, RAS) allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 per month. He said that the accused were pressuring him to pay four months' outstanding bribe from November 2021 to February 2022.
However, the court noted a crucial inconsistency and said the complaint was filed on April 22, 2022, while Pahadiya was transferred from Alwar to Jaipur on April 13, 2022, and relieved from his post on April 18, 2022.
The ACB’s verification process did not conclusively establish that Pahadiya demanded a bribe, said the court, adding, "The bribe amount was recovered from a scooty belonging to Nitin, an associate of RAS officer Ashok Sankhla, rather than from Pahadiya."
Taking these facts into account, the High Court ruled in favour of Nannumal Pahadiya, stating that there was insufficient evidence to justify criminal proceedings. The case against him has been dismissed.
Pahadia was arrested by the ACB on April 23, 2022, about 99 days before his retirement. The government suspended him on the same day. During his suspension, Pahadia retired on July 31, 2022. Meanwhile, on June 15, 2022, the ACB presented a challan against Pahadia, Ashok Sankhla and others. After this, on June 29, 2022, Pahadia and Ashok Sankhla got bail from the High Court
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