Mumbai: The special Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court has acquitted a 54-year-old worker in the election office, who was booked in 2017 for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe from a complainant to issue a family voter’s list dating back to 1996.
Santaji Kavhar, who was attached to BEST but deputed to the election office, has been let off as the prosecution could not produce evidence to prove the case, while the complainant died pending the trial. As per the prosecution’s case, registered with the ACB by Suryaprakash Gujarati on July 24, 2017, the complainant had approached Kavhar for a certified copy of his family’s 1995 voter’s list.
Gujarati claimed he needed the list to submit to the collector to prove his eligibility for a redevelopment project. On the form received from Kavhar, Gujarati mentioned his earlier name, Prakash Jetwa. After perusing it, Kavhar allegedly asked him to meet outside and demanded Rs2,500. Gujarati then approached the ACB, and officials arranged a trap on July 24, 2017, during which Kavhar was caught red-handed. Pending trial, Gujarati died, and the prosecution could only examine five witnesses.
Kavhar’s lawyer, Vaibhav Bagade, contended that the complainant was unavailable to testify before the court. The witness who acted as the panch for the trap did not hear the conversation between the informant and the accused. There was no independent eyewitness to the demand or acceptance of the bribe. Furthermore, the forensic report could not be considered, as it did not disclose the frequency at which the voice sample was recorded.
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