'Tainted Notes Not Sufficient To Prove Guilt,' Observes Special CBI Court, Acquits CSMT Station Director & Peon Of Corruption Charges

Mumbai: The special CBI court, on Friday, acquitted CSMT station director Gajanan Joshi and Babu Kamble, a peon working under him, of corruption charges. The two were booked in July 2021 on the complaint of Bura Yellaswamy, a ‘pay and use’ toilet contractor for the railway station.

About The Case

Yellaswamy had alleged that Joshi used to demand Rs 1,000 for issuing identity cards to each of his staff members, besides collecting petty amounts of Rs 50-Rs 100 daily from the staff. The contractor also claimed that Joshi demanded extra sum for smooth functioning of the service. He lodged a complaint with the CBI, who laid a trap and caught the duo redhanded on July 24, 2021, and found tainted notes with Kamble.

The court noted that recovering tainted notes from Kamble is not sufficient to prove the duo’s guilt. It also noted that Kamble was just a peon and had no power to help the accused in any manner, and no one would have paid the amount without reason. The court also said that demand of undue advantage or bribe by Joshi is also not proved as none of the complainant’s work was pending with him on a relevant date, and he had no authority to impose any kind of penalty or to cancel the complainant’s contract.

As per the court, the prosecution failed to prove any demand by Joshi even for issuing I-cards to the complainant’s staff. The court added that the prosecution failed to prove any criminal conspiracy between the two accused. “One is a high official and another a peon. The contractor had lodged a similar kind of complaint against another public servant of the railway department, alleging that he had demanded a bribe from him,” the court said while acquitting the duo.