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The appellant denied that he demanded any amount through Dr. Motwani. He also denied that he threatened Dr. Adatia (if the consequence of an inquest.

Four questions were canvassed in this appeal. The first contention was that the trial Court and the High Court errect in admitting the evidence of the telephonic conversation between Dr. Motwani and the appellant which was recorded on the tape. The evidence was illegally obtained in contravention of section 25 of the Indian Telegraph Act and therefore the evidence was inadmissible. Secondly, the conversation between Dr. Motwani and the appellant which was recorded on the tape took place during investigation inasmuch as Mugwe asked Dr. Motwani to talk and therefore the conversation was not admissible under section 162 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The third contention was that the appellant did not attempt to obtain gratification. Fourthly. it was said that the sentence of six months imprisonment Should be interfered with because the appellant has already paid Rs. 10,000 as fine. The appellant suffered heart attacks and therefore the sentence should be modified.

The trial Court as well as the High Court found that the evidence of Dr. Motwani and Dr. Adatia needed corroboration. The High Court found that the conversation recorded on the tape corroborated their evidence. The evidence of Dr. Motwani is that on 7 October, 1964 Mugwe accompanied by Sawant and members of the Police staff went to the residence of Dr. Motwani. Mugwe directed Sawant to record Dr. Motwani's statement. Mugwe had instructed his staff to bring a tape recording machine. After the statement of Dr. Motwani Mugwe connected the tape recording machine to Dr. Motwani's phone and asked Dr. Motwani to talk to any one he liked in order to test whether the tape recording machine was in order. Motwani was then asked to talk to the appellant. Motwani talked with the appellant. That conversation was recorded on the tape. This tape recorded conversation is challenged by counsel for the appellant to be inadmissible because it infringes Articles 20(3) and 21 of the Constitution and is an offence tinder section 25 of the Indian Telegraph Act.

Section 25 of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885 states that if any person intending (b) to intercept or to acquaint himself with the contents of any message damages, removes, tampers with or touches any battery, machinery. telegraph line, post or other thin whatever, being part of or used in or about any telegraph or in the working thereof he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. "Telegraph" is defined in the Indian Telegraph Act in section 3 to mean any appliance, instrument, material or apparatus used or capable of use for transmission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, visual or other electro-magnetic emissions, radio waves or Hertzian wave s, galvanic, electric or magnetic means. Counsel for the appellant submitted that attaching the tape recording instrument to the telephone instrument of Dr. Motwani was an offence under section 25 of the Indian Telegraph Act. It was also said that if a Police Officer intending to acquaint himself with the contents of any message touched machinery or other thing whatever used in or about or telegraph or in the working thereof he was guilty of an offence under the Telegraph Act. Reliance was placed on rule 149 of the Telegraph Rules which states that it shall be lawful for the Telegraph Authority to monitor or intercept a message or messages transmitted through tele- phone, for the purpose of verification of any violation of these rules or for the maintenance of the equipment. This Rule was referred to for establishing that only the Telegraph Authorities could intercept message under the Act and Rules and a Police Officer could not.

In the present case, the High Court held that the telephone call put by Dr. Motwani to the appellant was tapped by the Police Officers and, therefore, there was violation of section 25 of the Indian Telegraph Act. But the High Court held that the tape recorded conversation was admissible in evidence in spite of the violation of the Telegraph Act. The Police Officer in the present case fixed the tape recording instrument to the telephone instrument with the authority of Dr. Motwani. The Police Officer could not be said to intercept any message or within the meaning of section 25 of the The reason is that the Police Officer instead the oral conversation between Dr. Motwani recorded the conversation with the device of the The substance of the offence under section graph Act is damaging, removing, tampering, touching battery line or post for interception or acquainting oneself with damage or remove or touch any machinery Indian Telegraph Act. of hearing directly and the appellant tape recorder. 25 of the Indian Tele machinery the contents of any message. Where a person talking on the telephone allows another person to record it or to hear it it cannot be said that the other person who is allowed to do so is damaging, removing, tampering, touching machinery battery line or post for intercepting or acquainting himself with the contents of any.