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Home » Maharashtra » Bombay HC acquits deceased doctor in 32-year-old bribe case of Rs 100

Bombay HC acquits deceased doctor in 32-year-old bribe case of Rs 100

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Bombay HC acquits deceased doctor in 32-year-old bribe case of Rs 100

A doctor booked over Rs 100 bribe to issue a death certificate, was acquitted after 32 years by the Bombay High Court citing lack of evidence. However, the doctor passed away in 2015.

Justice Sadhana Jadhav acquitted late medical officer Nishikant Kulkarni and his peon Kadar Shaikh of charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The two accused used to work at Manmad Municipal Hospital.

In September 1987, the complainant Manohar Mulchandani approached the court, claiming Kulkarni had demanded a bribe of Rs 150 – subsequently brought down to Rs 100 – to issue a death certificate for his brother.

The ACB laid a trap and arrested Shaikh to whom Mulchandani handed the money.

Later in 2005, a sessions court held Kulkarni and Shaikh guilty and sentenced them to imprisonment of one year and six months respectively. The duo challenged the verdict in the high court.


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While hearing the case Justice Jadhav said, “It is a cardinal principle of criminal jurisprudence that in a Prevention of Corruption Act case the demand is (essential condition) to prove acceptance as bribe or gratification.”

“In the present case, the prosecution has failed to prove there was valid sanction from the sanctioning authority to prosecute the accused. It is a matter of record that due to non-examination of the shadow panch (witness), there is no corroboration of demand and acceptance and the facts which had transpired between Kulkarni and the complainant preceding the trap laid by the Anti- Corruption Bureau,” the judge said.

The doctor had passed away in 2015 but his wife and two daughters fought the case over the years to get his name cleared.

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