Court acquits peon in bribery case, cites procedural flaw in sanction for prosecution

Advocate Arvind A Aghav, who represented Devkate, submitted that the executive engineer who sanctioned his clients prosecution was not the competent authority.The court accepted his argument and dropped the charges against Devkate.

A special court in Maharashtra's Thane has acquitted a government official in a bribery case citing a procedural flaw in the sanction for his prosecution. A copy of the order dated March 20 was made available on Friday.

Janardan Sakharam Devkate, who worked as a peon-cum-bill-distributor with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), was accused of demanding and accepting money in 2013 over the installation of new electricity meters in Thane's Wagle Estate area. Advocate Arvind A Aghav, who represented Devkate, submitted that the executive engineer who sanctioned his client's prosecution was not the competent authority.

The court accepted his argument and dropped the charges against Devkate. Special Judge (ACB) Amit M Shete, who also serves as the Additional Sessions Judge in Thane, held that the authority to sanction the prosecution of Class IV employees like Devkate rested solely with the chief engineer, ''as they (MSEB) hold the power to appoint or remove such employees within MSEB. The court, however, directed that the items seized during the investigation be retained pending any future legal proceedings, allowing the prosecution to reopen the case after obtaining the necessary sanction.

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