Mumbai: Nearly nine years after a then BEST conductor was booked for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 2,200 while on deputation at the Charkop poll office, a special court acquitted him due to procedural lapses by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and lack of eyewitnesses following the complainant’s death.Special judge S S Nagur noted the prosecution failed to establish the authenticity of electronic evidence. “…the verification of demand and acceptance of the amount is not proved. The prosecution failed to prove the actual obtainment to make out the offence of criminal misconduct.” Vaibhav Bagade, advocate for accused Santaji Kavhar (54), said there was no independent eyewitness to the alleged bribe. “FSL report can’t be considered as it doesn’t disclose at what frequency the voice sample was recorded.” The complainant, Suryaprakash Gujarati, had alleged in 2017 that Kavhar had sought Rs 2,500 to provide a certified copy of a 1995 voter list required for a redevelopment project. ACB claimed it caught Kavhar accepting Rs 2,200. But Gujarati died in 2021 before he could be examined in court.
