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The Rouse Avenue Court has recently acquitted a Mother Dairy official, citing the non compliance of CBI Manual in a corruption case by the CBI. It was alleged that the accused official had demanded a bribe of Rs. 60000 from a milk distributor in 2024.
Special CBI Judge Vijeta Singh Rawat on September 22 acquitted accused Sanjay Sharma, giving him the benefit of doubt. The court said that the prosecution has failed to prove its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. The accused istherefore acquitted of the offence punishable under Section 7 of the P.C. Act, 1988. Special Judge said that the CBI Crime Manual and, in specific, Rules 9.9, 9.17, 9.21, 11.15 and 12.25 have been ignored. "The Investigating Officer did not record the order of the Superintendent of Police through which investigation was entrusted to him or note down the registration number of the vehicles and their drivers used during verification and trap proceedings and did not record the language of the complainant," Special Judge held in the judgment of September 22. It is mentioned that as per Rule 6.12 of CBI (Crime) Manual, 2020, the Head of Branch will seek the permission of competent authority to register complaints (public) which are found fit for verification. Further, every complaint, registered for verification, will be assigned a Registered Complaint number and entered in the Complaint Sub Module of the CRIMES Module. "Considering therefore, that the case of the prosecution was on a specific complaint and it is not the case of the prosecution that the trap was laid in anticipation of a possible demand by some public servant, the factum that the complaint bears no endorsement of the Superintendent of Police marking it for verification and no registration number assigned to the complaint is a circumstance that lends credence to the defence raised that manipulation of evidence cannot be ruled out," the court said. A complaint on December 27, 2024, submitted by one Firoz Malik, the complainant (Milk Distributor for Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable (P) Ltd. He alleged that accused Sanjay Sharma, the Zonal Incharge, Mother Dairy, had demanded a bribe of Rs 60,000 out of the sale proceeds of extra milk packets being supplied vide the milk scheme effective since December 1, 2024, failing which he threatened to cancel the distributorship of the complainant. Advocate Sanjay Gupta alongwith Raj Kamal Arya appeared for Sanjay Sharma. It was submitted that the complainant bore a grudge against the accused on account of the transfer of Asfaq Ahmed (Predecessor of the accused), who was posted in the said zone for the last ten years and whose presence was favourable for the complainant. Further, it was argued that the accused also cracked down on the sale of Amul Milk by the complainant and pressurised him to increase the sale of Mother Dairy milk by the complainant. It was also submitted that one more distributor was appointed in the same area of operation as that of the complainant, on the recommendation of the accused. As a result of the accused's actions, the complainant lost extra income of Rs 20,000 per month from milk transporter Satbir. (ANI)
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