Special Judge's power to grant pardon before charge-sheet upheld under the anti-corruption statute and CrPC scheme.

A Special Judge under the Prevention of Corruption Act can tender pardon to an accomplice before the charge-sheet is filed, because the power conferred by Section 5(2) is substantive and is not confined to the post-committal stage. The deeming clause attached to that provision operates only for the limited purpose of Section 308 CrPC and cannot be expanded to curtail the express statutory power. Reading Sections 306, 307 and 308 CrPC harmoniously with Sections 5(2), 5(3) and 26 of the Act, the Court treated the Special Judge as a court of original criminal jurisdiction. The challenge to the pardon order failed, and the order was sustained.

---

---

Issues: Whether a Special Judge under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 has power to tender pardon to an accomplice before filing of the charge-sheet and during investigation.

Analysis: The statutory scheme of Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 confers power on the Special Judge to tender pardon, and the deeming clause attached to that provision operates only for the limited purpose of Section 308 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The Special Judge is a court of original criminal jurisdiction and, on a harmonious reading of Sections 306, 307 and 308 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 with Sections 5(2), 5(3) and 26 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the power to grant pardon is not confined to the post-committal stage. The legal fiction in Section 5(2) cannot be extended to curtail the substantive power expressly conferred by the statute.

Conclusion: The Special Judge had jurisdiction to grant pardon before filing of the charge-sheet, and the challenge to the order granting pardon failed.

Final Conclusion: The appeals were dismissed, and the order granting pardon was sustained, while the trial court was directed to decide the case independently without being influenced by observations made while granting pardon.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special statute expressly confers power on a Special Judge to tender pardon, a limited deeming clause cannot be expanded to restrict that power, and the Special Judge may exercise such power at the investigation stage if the statutory scheme so permits.

---