SC upholds conviction, sentencing of hostel warden for bribery

The Supreme Court Feb 5 upheld the conviction and sentencing of a hostel warden in Bengaluru for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs.2,000 from a student seeking accommodation in the college hostel.

The apex court bench of Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre dismissed the appeal of L. Laxmikanta against the Karnataka High Court order which had upheld his conviction and sentencing by the trial court for accepting a bribe of Rs.2,000 from a student seeking hostel accommodation.

L. Laxmikanta was the warden of the Medical and Engineering College (SC/ST) Hostel at Banashankari in Bengaluru run by the social welfare department of the Karnataka government.

He has already served a part of the four-year sentence and will have to go to jail for the remainder.

Dismissing the appeal, the court said: "we find no merit in this appeal. It fails and is, accordingly, dismissed. Since the accused is on bail, he be taken into custody forthwith to serve out the remainder of his sentence."

"It is a settled principle in law that once the demand and voluntary acceptance of illegal gratification knowing it to be the bribe are proved by evidence then conviction must follow under Section 7 (of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988) against the accused. Indeed, these twin requirements are sine qua non for proving the offence under Section 7," said the court in its recent verdict.

Pronouncing the judgment, Justice Sapre said: "In the light of our own reappraisal of the evidence...we have also come to a conclusion that twin requirements of demand and acceptance of illegal gratification of Rs.2,000 were proved on the basis of evidence adduced by the prosecution against the appellant (Laxmikanta) and hence the appellant (Laxmikanta) was rightly convicted and sentenced for the offences punishable under the (Prevention of Corruption) Act".

The student took admission in an engineering course in the academic year 1999-2000. As he could not clear his second semester he appeared in the examination in 2001 and cleared it. Upon entering the third semester, the student applied for the hostel room.

As warden Laxmikanta demanded Rs.2,000 bribe for allotting the room, the student reported the matter to the Lokayukta. The Lokayukta police laid a trap and arrested the warden red handed while accepting the bribe.