High Court grants bail to Income Tax Officer accused of demanding bribe of Rs. 25000/-
In a recent judgment, the Hon’ble Allahabad High Court has granted bail to Income Tax Officer accused of demanding bribe of Rs. 25000/-
ABCAUS Case Law Citation:
ABCAUS 3965 (2024) (04) HC
In the instant case, the complainant was running a Customer Service Point (CSP) of State Bank of India at Fatepur, Uttar Pradesh.
It was alleged by her that Income Tax Officer and his steno had demanded a bribe of Rs. 25,000/- and threatened to initiate false report and imposing fine against her CSP (Customer Service Portal) if, bribe was not given.
The Anti Corruption Bureau of CBI, in March 2024 arrested the said Income Tax Officer and Steno after discreetly verifying the complaint with secretly recording the conversation which prima-facie established. An FIR was registered under section 120B of IPC and section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 on the charges of criminal conspiracy and demand of undue advantage by public servant.
The said Income Tax Officer moved an application seeking bail in respect of the said case during trial.
The defense advanced was that the Income Tax Officer/applicant was innocent and had been falsely implicated in the case. It was contended that the entire premise upon which the FIR had been lodged, was frivolous and concocted.
It was submitted that the complainant was issued a notice under Section 148A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 in respect of certain cash deposits found in her account on the charges of escapement of income.
It was further stated that in furtherance of the said notice, the Income Tax Officer had passed the order in the month of February 2024 and that too with the prior approval of the Commissioner of Income Tax.
In the aforesaid backdrop, it was urged that once the said order had been passed, there was no reason for the Income Tax Officer to have demanded any amount from the complainant and the complaint made by the complainant in March 2024 automatically loses its relevance insofar as the Income Tax Officer was concerned.
It is further submitted that even otherwise the allegation is primarily against the co-accused who is the Steno of the applicant and the alleged conversation which has been recorded, is between the complainant and the co-accused Steno and not with the Income Tax Officer.
Thus, it was argued that the allegations against the Income Tax Officer were completely unsubstantiated. That the ITO is a reputed government servant and has deep roots in the society. He had no previous criminal history and has been in jail since last one month.
Praying the bail, it was submitted that there is no possibility of the ITO fleeing away after being released on bail or tampering with the evidence.
The CBI though opposed the prayer for bail but could not controvert the aforesaid facts.
The Hon’ble High Court released the said Income Tax Officer on bail on furnishing a personal bond on the conditions that he shall not seek any adjournment on the dates fixed for evidence, shall remain present before the trial court on each date fixed, shall not directly or indirectly make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case.
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