NDMC property tax corruption case ends in acquittal as court finds gaps in trap proceedings

Special Court CBI of Sanjay Jindal (PC Act), acquitted Rajeev Chandhok, Sr. Assistant/Tax Inspector, NDMC, along with Harvinder Singh and Ashu Jhingan, who were accused of improperly and dishonestly performing public duties in connection with property tax assessment matters. In bribery cases, "trap proceedings" means an operation by agencies like the CBI to catch a person allegedly accepting a bribe.

The court pointed to several fallacies in the prosecution's trap case, contradictions in statements of trap team officers and lack of support from independent witnesses while extending the benefit of doubt to all three accused.

The case stemmed from a CBI FIR alleging that Rajeev Chandhok had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Harvinder Singh and Ashu Jhingan for extending undue favour in relation to assessment of property tax of a commercial property situated at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Marg, Gole Market, New Delhi. According to the prosecution, Chandhok had allegedly demanded illegal gratification for settling the assessment matter favourably.

The prosecution claimed that based on source information, a trap was laid by the CBI on September 6, 2018 at NDMC's Palika Kendra office. It was alleged that Ashu Jhingan had delivered the bribe amount on behalf of Harvinder Singh to Rajeev Chandhok and that the amount was later recovered during the trap proceedings.

During the proceedings, counsels appearing for accused Rajeev Chandhok included Hemant Shah, Akshay Rana, Saurabh Pal, Vishal Mann, Aishvarya, Ashutosh Kumar Tiwari, Ojas Kaushik, Saurabh Rajput and Kavya Roy Choudhury.

Counsels appearing for accused Harvinder Singh were DS Kohli and Advocate Yash Luthra, while accused Ashu Jhingan was represented by Advocate Shiv Chopra, Advocate Shravan Pandey and Advocate Surbhi Arora.

However, after examining the evidence and testimonies on record, the Special Court found major inconsistencies in the prosecution story.

The court observed that no witness had actually seen the alleged handing over of the bribe amount by Ashu Jhingan to Rajeev Chandhok. It further noted that the prosecution had relied substantially on alleged disclosures and admissions made by the accused persons while in CBI custody, which could not be treated as admissible evidence.

The court also highlighted that the currency notes allegedly recovered during the trap were not treated with phenolphthalein powder, a standard procedure generally followed in trap cases to scientifically establish handling of tainted money. The judgment noted that there was no convincing evidence to connect the recovered amount either with Harvinder Singh or Ashu Jhingan.

Special Judge Sanjay Jindal also placed reliance on the testimonies of independent witnesses, which did not support the prosecution case in material particulars. One of the independent witnesses reportedly contradicted the prosecution's claim regarding recovery of Rs 50,000 and instead stated that only Rs 20,000 had been recovered. The court observed that such testimony raised serious doubts about the genuineness of the prosecution case.

The court further found inconsistencies in the version of another independent witness, who stated that he had prior knowledge about the raid before the alleged source information was even received by the CBI. According to the court, these contradictions weakened the credibility of the trap proceedings.

Referring to settled legal principles governing corruption cases, the court reiterated that proof of demand and acceptance of illegal gratification are essential ingredients for conviction under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court held that the prosecution had failed to prove the alleged conspiracy, demand or acceptance of bribe beyond reasonable doubt.

Accordingly, the court acquitted Rajeev Chandhok, Harvinder Singh and Ashu Jhingan of all charges under the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act. (ANI)