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The facts of the case lie within a narrow compass and centre round an alleged conspiracy said to have been entered into between respondents No. 1 and 2 in order to commit offences under sections 5(2) and 5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) read with section 120-B I.P.C. The main charge against the respondents was that between 19-2-1972 to 30-3-1972 the respondent entered into an agreement For the purpose of obtaining pecuniary advantage for respondent No. 1 P. K. Samal and in pursuance of the said conspiracy the second respondent Debi Prasad Jena, who was the Land Acquisition officer aided and abetted the first respondent in getting a huge sum of money for a land acquired by the Government which in fact belonged to the Government itself and respondent No. 1 was a skew thereof. It is averred in the chargesheet that respondent No. 1 by abusing his official position concealed the fact that the land which was the subject matter of acquisition and was situated in Cuttack Cantonment was really Khasmahal land belonging to the Government and having made it appear that he was the undisputed owner of the same, got a compensation of Rs. 4,18,642.55. The charge-sheet contains a number of circumstances from which the inference of the conspiracy is sought to be drawn by the police. After the charge-sheet was submitted before the Special Judge, the prosecution ousted him to frame a charge against the respondents. The Special Judge, Puri after having gone through the charge-sheet and statements made by the witnesses before the police as also other documents came to the conclusion that there was no sufficient ground for framing a charge against the respondents and he accordingly discharged them under section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 hereinafter called the Code). The Special Judge has given cogent reasons for passing the order of discharge. The appellant went up to the High Court in revision against the order of the Special Judge refusing to frame the charge, but the High Court dismissed the revision petition filed by the appellant and maintained the order of discharge passed by the Special Judge. Thereafter the appellant moved this Court by ar, application for special leave which having been granted to the appellant, the appeal is now set for hearing before us.

In the year 1969 the All-India Radio authorities were desirous of having a piece of land for construction of quarters for their staff posted at Cuttack. In this connection, the said authorities approached respondent No. 1 who had a land along with structure in the Cantonment at Cuttack. As the All-India Radio authorities found this land suitable, they approached respondent No. 1 through his mother for selling the land to them by private negotiation. As this did not materialise, the All-India Radio authorities moved the Collector of Cuttack to assess the price of the land and get it acquired. Accordingly, the Tehsildar of the area directed the Revenue officer, Cuttack; to fix the valuation of the land of respondent No. 1. The Revenue officer reported back that the land belonged to respondent No. 1 and was his private land and its value would be fixed at Rs. 3000 per guntha. It is common ground that the land in question was situated in Cuttack Cantonment and was a Khasmahal land which was first leased out to one Mr. Boument as far back as 1-9-1943 for a period of 30 years. The lease was given for building purposes. In 1954. Mrs. Boument who inherited the property after her husband's death transferred the land to respondent No. 1 with the consent of the Khasmahal authorities. When respondent No. 1 came to know that the land in question was required by the All-India Radio authorities, he wrote a letter to Mr. . S. Gill on 28th October, 1970 suggesting that the land- may be acquired but price fixed by mutual consent. It may be pertinent to mention here that in this, letter a copy of which being Ex. D-4 (12) is to be found at page 86 of the paper-book, respondent No. 1 never concealed the fact that the land really belonged to the Government. In this connection, respondent No. 1 wrote thus:-

"Government authorities admit that the land in question was known to be Khasmahal land from the very inception. This must lead to an inference that the authorities knew that the interest of the opposite party No. 1 in the land was that of a lessee and the State Government was the proprietor".

The High Court has further observed that a number of witnesses who were examined by the police had stated that it was common Knowledge that all khasmahal lands in the Cantonment area in Cuttack were Government lands Relying on the statement of Mr. T. C. Vijayasekharan, Collector, Cuttack, the High Court observed as follows:-

"Shri Vijayasekharan who has admittedly played an important role in the land acquisition proceeding has said that it is a matter of common knowledge that all khasmahal lands in Cantonment area at Cuttack are Government lands. He has further categorically stated that Shri P. M. Samantray did not put undue pressure of any kind".

Furthermore, it would appear that Mr. B. C. Mohanty, Land Acquisition officer submitted a report about the land in question on 15th February, 1971 in which he had clearly mentioned that the land in question was Government land and that respondent No. 1 was a Pattidar in respect of the land as shown in the record. Thus, one of the important premises on the basis of which the charge was sought to be framed has rightly been found by the High Court not to exist at all. The records of the Government showed the nature of the land. Respondent No. 1 at no time represented to the All-India Radio authorities or the Government that the land was his private one and the records of the Government clearly went to show that the land was a Government land. In these circumstances, therefore, it cannot be said that respondent No. 1 acted illegally in agreeing to the land being acquired by the Government.