Arun Kumar Jindal Vs Central Bereau of Investigation (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail application and held that statutory requirement of prior approval under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 not attracted in case of trap case.
Facts- The petitioner is a public servant, who joined Government Service in the year 1995 and is presently serving as Senior Section Engineer (Tender Section) [SSE] with the Northern Railways, New Delhi. It is the case of the prosecution that Saket Chand Srivastava, Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer (General) [Sr. DEE], Arun Jindal, SSE (In-charge, Tender Section), Electrical-G Branch (petitioner herein), and Tapendra Singh Gurjar, Senior Section Engineer, Electrical-G Branch, were engaged in corrupt and unlawful practices in the matter of issuance of work orders and clearance of bills pertaining to private contractors, in lieu of illegal gratification. The prosecution has alleged that Saket Chand Srivastava, Sr. DEE, amassed approximately Rs. 1.2 crores as bribe money from various railway contractors, and that the said amount was subsequently converted into gold from Rama Krishna Jewelers, Lajpat Nagar, with the assistance of one Saket Kumar, Director, M/s Shivmani Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., and the petitioner. It is also alleged that the petitioner was actively involved in the collection of bribes from various railway contractors, both for himself and on behalf of Saket Chand Srivastava, Sr. DEE, in exchange for awarding work orders and facilitating clearance of bills.
