Supreme Court: Recovery Alone Insufficient for Conviction Under Prevention of Corruption Act

The Supreme Court has clarified that simply recovering tainted money from a public servant is not enough to convict them under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The prosecution must clearly prove that the accused both demanded and voluntarily accepted the bribe.

The Bench emphasised that these two elements, demand and acceptance, are essential to establish guilt under Sections 7 and 13(1)(d) of the Act, and explained that the legal presumption under Section 20 applies only after the demand is proven.

Since the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence to prove these requirements, the Court set aside the conviction and acquitted the accused of all charges.