MIR MUSTAFA ALI HASMI versus THE STATE OF A.P.

Citation: [2024] 7 S.C.R. 640 · Decided: 10-07-2024 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: BHUSHAN RAMKRISHNA GAVAI · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

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Judgment (excerpt)

[2024] 7 S.C.R. 640 : 2024 INSC 503
Mir Mustafa Ali Hasmi  
v. 
The State of A.P.
(Criminal Appeal No. 2845 of 2024)
10 July 2024 
[B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta,* JJ.]
Issue for Consideration
The question arose whether the prosecution was able to prove 
beyond all manner of doubt the fact that the appellant demanded 
and accepted bribe from the complainant; and whether the courts 
below were justified in convicting and sentencing the appellant for 
offence punishable u/ss.7 and 13(1)(d) r/w 13(2) of the Prevention 
of Corruption Act, 1988, for the demand and acceptance of illegal 
gratification.
Headnotes†
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 – ss. 7 and 13(1)(d) r/w  
13(2) – Demand and acceptance of illegal gratification  – 
Prosecution case that the the appellant-Forest Section 
Officer and the co-accused-Forest guard demanded and 
accepted bribe from the complainant who operated a saw-
mill – Complaint filed by the complainant to the DySP, alleging 
that the flying squad led by the appellant imposed a fine of 
Rs.50,000/- on his saw mill in relation to the recovery of illegal 
and unlicensed teakwood in the saw-mill – Next week, the 
appellant and the Forest guard again demanded a monthly 
amount of Rs.5,000/- to refrain from taking any further action 
on the saw-mill – DySP organized the pre-trap proceedings, 
wherein the appellant demanded and accepted the bribe 
amount from the complainant – Conviction and sentence of the 
appellant and the co-accused u/ss. 7 and 13(1)(d) r/w 13(2) by 
the trial court – High Court acquitted the co-accused whereas 
upheld the order as regards the appellant – Correctness:
Held: Grave suspicion on the prosecution case that the appellant 
demanded the bribe money from the complainant – Prosecution 
miserably failed to prove the factum of demand of bribe against the 
appellant by reliable direct or circumstantial evidence – Allegation 
regarding acceptance of bribe by the appellant is primarily based 
* Author
[2024] 7 S.C.R. 
641
Mir Mustafa Ali Hasmi v. The State of A.P.
on the evidence of the complainant, PW-2 and DySP whereas the 
complainant and PW-2 being close friends, it can safely be assumed 
that PW-2 was an interested witness – No satisfactory evidence 
on record to establish that the appellant had actually handled 
the tainted currency notes as claimed by the complainant – No 
justification for the DySP to have straight away register the FIR 
on the mere ipse dixit of the complainant and to have planned 
the trap proceedings without the minimum endeavour to verify the 
background facts leading to the alleged demand of bribe – Prudent 
and unbiased police officer would be persuaded to make at least a 
basic enquiry into these facts rather than following the dictat of the 
complainant – Furthermore, PW-2 was the only witness associated 
by the DySP to accompany the complainant for witnessing the 
transaction of demand and acceptance of bribe – PW-2 was 
kept as a shadow witness in the case – DySP did not make any 
effort whatsoever to associate an independent person to act as a 
shadow witness in the trap proceedings – Also call detail records 
completely demolish the complainant’s case – Manner in which the 
worker in the saw mill was associated as a panch witness in the 
trap proceedings, creates a grave doubt that the entire case was 
orchestrated against the appellant at the instance of the worker – 
Prosecution case full of embellishments contradicting and doubting 
and thus, would not be safe to convict the appellant for having 
demanded and accepted the bribe money from the complainant – 
Prosecution failed to bring home the charges against the appellant 
by leading evidence of an unimpeachable character – Appellant to 
be acquitted of the charges – Impugned judgments quashed and 
set aside. [Paras 48, 52-57]
Case Law Cited
Neeraj Dutta v. State (Government of NCT of Delhi) [2023] 2 
SCR 997 : (2023) 4 SCC 731 – referred to.
List of Acts
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; Code of Criminal Procedure, 
1973.
List of Keywords
Demand and acceptance of bribe; Conviction and sentence for 
offence punishable u/ss. 7 and 13(1)(d) r/w 13(2) of the PC Act, 
1988; Pre-trap proceedings; Trap Laying Officer; Interested witness; 
Tainted currency notes.
642
[2024] 7 S.C.R.
Digital Supreme Court Reports
Case Arising From
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No.2845 
of 2024
From the Judgment and Order dated 02.08.2022 of the High Court 
for the State of Telangana at 

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