Discharge at Section 227 stage requires prima facie scrutiny, and unsupported prosecution material cannot sustain a corruption trial.

At the discharge stage under Section 227 CrPC in a Prevention of Corruption Act prosecution, the court must sift the prosecution material, assess broad probabilities, and determine whether it discloses grave suspicion or only a weak suspicion. It cannot conduct a full trial-like evaluation, but it must exclude unsupported or internally inconsistent material before deciding whether the accused must stand trial. On the record, inflated expenditure based on an incorrect bank balance, a loan repayment already reflected in salary deductions, and seized articles unconnected to the relevant check period did not establish a prima facie case. Discharge was therefore warranted.

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Issues: Whether the accused was entitled to discharge in proceedings under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 on the basis that the material relied upon by the prosecution did not disclose a prima facie case.

Analysis: At the stage of discharge under Section 227 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, the court must sift the material placed by the prosecution, consider the broad probabilities of the case, and see whether the facts and documents disclose grave suspicion or only a weak suspicion. The court cannot conduct a meticulous trial-like examination, but it must still test whether the material relied upon is sufficient to require the accused to stand trial. On the record, the alleged expenditure had been inflated by inclusion of items not supported by the case materials, including an incorrect bank balance, a loan repayment already accounted for in salary deductions, and the value of articles seized long after the relevant check period without any link to that period.

Conclusion: The accused was entitled to discharge because the prosecution material did not disclose a prima facie case.

Ratio Decidendi: At the stage of discharge, the court must exclude unsupported or internally inconsistent components from the prosecution material and discharge the accused where, on a proper sifting of the record, no prima facie case or grave suspicion remains.

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