CBI, Bank Securities & Fraud Cell Vs. Ramesh Gelli and Ors.
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Head Note
Prevention of Corruption Act,1988 - Section 2
Banking Regulation Act, 1949, Section 46A - Corruption - Public Servant - Chairman, Director of Bank etc. - Object of enactment of P.C. Act, 1988, was to make the anti corruption law more effective and widen its coverage - In view of definition of public servant in Section 46A of Act, 1949 as amended the Managing Director and Executive Director of a Banking Company operating under licence issued by Reserve Bank Of India, were already public servants, as such they cannot be excluded from definition of 'public servant' - Over the general definition of 'public servant' given in Section 21 of IPC, it is the definition of 'public servant' given in the P.C. Act, 1988, read with Section 46-A of Banking Regulation Act, which holds the field for the purposes of offences under the said Act - For banking business is Section 46A of Act, 1949 and merely for the reason that Sections 161 to 165A of IPC have been repealed by the P.C. Act, 1988, relevance of Section 46A of Act, 1949, is not lost - Courts below have erred in law in holding that accused who were Chairman/Managing Director and Executive Director of GTB respectively, were not public servants for the purposes of Act, 1988 - Orders impugned liable to be set aside.
Prevention of Corruption Act,1988 - Section 2
Banking Regulation Act, 1949, Section 46A - Corruption - Public Servant - Chairman, Director of Bank etc. -Legislative casus omissus - Judicial interpretative process - Before enactment of the PC Act, Section 46A of the BR Act had the effect of treating the concerned employees/office bearers of a Banking Company as public servants for the purposes of Chapter IX of the IPC by virtue of the deeming provision contained therein - The enactment of the PC Act with the clear intent to widen the definition of 'public servant' cannot be allowed to have the opposite effect by expressing judicial helplessness to rectify or fill up what is a clear omission in Section 46A of the BR Act - The omission to continue to extend the deeming provisions in Section 46A of the BR Act to the offences under Sections 7 to 12 of the PC Act must be understood to be clearly unintended and hence capable of admitting a judicial exercise to fill up the same - The unequivocal legislative intent to widen the definition of "public servant" by enacting the PC Act cannot be allowed to be defeated by interpreting and understanding the omission in Section 46A of the BR Act to be incapable of being filled up by the court - Accused respondents are public servants for the purpose of the PC Act by virtue of the provisions of Section 46A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the prosecutions launched against the accused respondents are maintainable in law.
Prevention of Corruption Act,1988 - Section 2
Public Servant - Public Duty - Mere performance of public duties by the holder of any office cannot bring the incumbent within the meaning of the expression 'public servant' as contained in Section 2(c) of the PC Act -It would be more reasonable to understand the expression "public servant" by reference to the office and the duties performed in connection therewith to be of a public character.
Topic(s)-Corruption - Public Servant - Chairman , Director of Bank etc. are public servant