Mumbai Special Court Acquits Maharashtra Maritime Board Official In 2016 Bribery Case
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai: The special court for corruption has acquitted 55-year-old Arun Saxena, who was then posted at Maharashtra Maritime Board and booked for demanding and accepting a bribe in May 2016 to give a license to carry out water sports business at Alibag Beach. The court held that the accused did not have any authority to give such a license.
Saxena was trapped on the complaint of one Siddhesh Bhagat. It was claimed that Saxena was serving at the office of the Maharashtra Maritime Board in May 2016. Bhagat, at the relevant time, wanted to carry out water sports business at Alibag Beach and had applied to the Maharashtra Maritime Board for obtaining the necessary permission for the same.
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It was claimed that after publication of the list of eligible applicants for issuance of Letter of Intent, Bhagat had approached the accused for grant of licence for water sports activities. Bhagat claimed that when he met Saxena, he demanded Rs 50,000, but later settled for Rs 35,000. Since he did not wish to pay, Bhagat approached the anti-corruption bureau against Saxena on May 10, 2016.
After the verification of the complaint, a trap was arranged where Saxena was allegedly caught demanding and accepting the bribe amount.
The allegations were denied by Saxena, who claimed that he had already received a letter of intent, but licence would be issued only after compliance with mandatory conditions, including purchase of ATV machines and submission of supporting documents, which Bhagat had failed to abide by.
The prosecution had, during the trial, examined a total of seven witnesses to prove the demand and acceptance of the bribe amount. The defence lawyer Vijay Desai had contended that the accused had no authority to grant final licence and that the complainant himself had failed to comply with mandatory conditions for obtaining the licence.
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The court noted that, “The prosecution substantially relied upon recorded conversations and voice analysis. However, serious infirmities emerge from the evidence. There is no proper chain of custody regarding DVRs, SD cards, locator devices and SIM cards. Hash values of specimen voice recordings were not generated or preserved. Mandatory particulars were absent in Section 65-B certificates. Consequently, the electronic evidence does not inspire confidence and cannot be treated as wholly reliable.”
The court further said that the recorded conversation does not clearly establish demand. “The accused had no direct authority to grant final licence and complainant admittedly had not complied with mandatory conditions for grant of licence. Thus, the prosecution failed to establish demand and voluntary acceptance beyond reasonable doubt,” the court said, acquitting Saxena.
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