Tendering pardon to an accomplice in a case triable by a special court under the prevention of corruption act, 1988

 

TENDERING PARDON TO AN ACCOMPLICE IN A CASE TRIABLE BY A SPECIAL COURT UNDER THE PREVENTION OF CORRUPTION                  ACT, 1988

 

 The offences relating to bribery and corruption among public servants were originally dealt with under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (“IPC” for short). Sections 161 to 165 A of IPC were those offences dealing with bribery and corruption. But, the post-world war fallouts facilitated wider scope for corrupt practices. Impelled by the felt necessity for curbing and stamping out this escalating evil of corruption, the Parliament enacted the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 (“P.C. Act, 1947” for short). This Act, however, borrowed mainly the offences under Sections 161 to 165 A of IPC. The definition of “public servant” in Section 21 of IPC was also borrowed by the P.C. Act, 1947. The aforesaid offences, however, continued to be tried by the Magistrates, as before. In the year 1949 the Government of India set up a Committee headed by Bakshi Tek Chand, inter alia to examine the measure of success achieved by the Deli Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (“DSPE Act” for short) in combating corruption. Thereafter, with a view to provide for the speedy trial of the aforesaid offences, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1952 was passed by the Parliament stipulating, inter alia that the aforesaid offences will be tried by Special Courts presided over by Sessions Judges or Additional Sessions Judges. The procedure continued to be warrant procedure. Section 8 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1952 reads as follows:-

 Procedure and powers of special judges - (1) A special judge may take cognizance of offences without the accused being committed to him for trial, and in trying the accused persons, shall follow the procedure prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898)

(2) A special judge may, with a view to obtaining the evidence of any person supposed to have been directly or indirectly concerned in, or privy to, an offence, tender a pardon to such person on condition of his making a full and true disclosure of the whole circumstances within his knowledge relating to the offence and to every other person concerned, whether as principal or abettor, in the commission thereof; and any pardon so tendered shall, for the purposes of sections 339 and 339A of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, be deemed to have been tendered under section 338 of that Code.

(3) Save as provided in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 shall, so far as they are not inconsistent with this Act, apply to the proceedings before a special judge; and for the purposes of the said provisions, the court of the special judge shall be deemed to be a court of session trying cases without a jury or without the aid of assessors and the person conducting a prosecution before a special judge shall be deemed to be a public prosecutor.

(3-A) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the provisions contained in sub-section (3), the provisions of [Sections 350 and 549] of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), shall, so far as may be, apply to the proceeding before a Special Judge, and for the purpose of the said provisions of Special Judge shall be deemed to be a Magistrate.

(4) A special judge may pass upon any person convicted by him any sentence authorised by law for the punishment of the offence of which such person is convicted.”

 The subsequent appointment of the Santhanam Committee in the year 1962 was a landmark in the crusade against corruption. The said committee made exhaustive enquiries and submitted a comprehensive report. Based on the recommendations of Santhanam Committee, the Anti-Corruption Laws (Amendment) Act, 1964 followed by the Criminal Law Amendment (Amending) Act, 1966, Anti-Corruption Laws (Amendment) Act, 1967 etc. were inter alia passed finally culminating in the enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (“P.C.Act, 1988” for short). In this new Act, the penal provisions were separately provided for and re-defined. Quite unusually, the P.C.Act, 1988 does not specify the date from which it shall come into force. The Act received the assent of the President of India on 09-09-1988 and was published in the Official Gazette on 12-09-1988. Hence by virtue of Section 5 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 the P.C.Act, 1988 should be deemed to have come into force on 09-09-1988 which is the date on which the Act received the assent of the President of India.