STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Special Judge Anti-Corruption Rajouri-Poonch Districts, Mehmood Chowdhary, has acquitted Altaf Ahmed, a Patwari Halqa Kandi, of charges related to demanding and accepting a bribe.
The case involved a complaint lodged by Mohammad Arif from Kandi, Tehsil Kotranka Rajouri, who alleged that Ahmed demanded Rs. 12,000 for processing a revenue document to partition land between him and his brother.
According to the chargesheet, on July 17, 2010, Arif reported to H.K. Nazar, DySP of the PR wing of the Vigilance Organization Jammu, that Ahmed had initially accepted Rs. 10,000 as a bribe and subsequently demanded an additional Rs. 1,500 for completing the required mutation entry. Arif, facing a compulsion, sought legal intervention before paying the additional bribe.
During the trial, Judge Chowdhary found that the prosecution failed to substantiate both the initial demand and the demand made at the time of the trap. Moreover, there was no proof of the bribe being accepted or recovered from Ahmed. As a result, the prosecution did not meet the burden of proving the charges under Section 5(2) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, Svt. 2006, and Section 161 RPC. Consequently, Ahmed was acquitted of all charges, and his personal and surety bonds were discharged.
