Public servant status under corruption law extends to elected municipal councillors performing public duties and supports prosecution.

Section 87 of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959 deems every member of a municipal board to be a public servant under the IPC, and that deeming fiction applies fully for its intended purpose. The broader, self-contained definition of "public servant" in Section 2(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 also covers a person holding an office that authorises or requires performance of public duty. An elected municipal councillor or board member falls within that description because such office involves public duties. The earlier IPC-based authorities were distinguished. The prosecution against the councillor was therefore maintainable, and the challenge to the criminal proceedings failed.

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Issues: Whether a municipal councillor and member of a municipal board is a public servant for the purpose of prosecution under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 in view of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959.

Analysis: Section 87 of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959 creates a legal fiction that every member of a municipal board shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. A deeming provision must be given full effect for the purpose for which it is enacted, and the appellant, being an elected councillor and member of the board, falls within that fiction. The relevant inquiry, however, is under Section 2(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which contains a wider and self-contained definition of public servant. A person holding an office by virtue of which he is authorised or required to perform public duty falls within that definition. A councillor or member of a board holds such an office and performs public duties. The earlier decisions relied upon dealt with the definition of public servant under Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code and did not consider the effect of Section 87 of the Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 1959 or the broader definition in Section 2(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Conclusion: The appellant is a public servant within Section 2(c) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and his challenge to the prosecution fails.

Final Conclusion: The prosecution was held maintainable and the High Court's refusal to interfere with the criminal proceedings was sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute creates a deeming fiction and the later special enactment contains a broader, self-contained definition of public servant, that definition governs the prosecution and can include an elected municipal councillor who performs public duties.

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