Prima facie prosecution material cannot be displaced by extraneous defences at Section 169 CrPC stage.

A report under Section 169 CrPC cannot be accepted where the record discloses prima facie prosecution material, including recorded conversation and trap evidence indicating demand by the public servant. Objections based on leave, prior approval, audibility concerns, and opinions of the police hierarchy or legal adviser were insufficient to dislodge the case at that stage. The Court held that the Special Judge gave undue weight to extraneous defences rather than applying judicial mind to the core material, and the order accepting the report was set aside. The report was rejected and the matter directed to proceed in accordance with law.

---

---

Issues: Whether the order accepting the report under Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 was sustainable.

Analysis: The material placed before the Court indicated that the complainant's recorded conversation and the surrounding trap evidence disclosed, at least prima facie, demand attributed to the public servant. The objections based on leave, prior approval, the forensic difficulty in audibility, and the opinions of the police hierarchy and legal adviser were held to be insufficient to dislodge the prosecution case at the stage of considering a report under Section 169. The Special Judge was held to have given undue weight to extraneous defences instead of examining the core material with proper judicial application of mind.

Conclusion: The order accepting the report under Section 169 was unsustainable and was set aside; the report was rejected and the matter was directed to proceed in accordance with law, in favour of the appellant.

Final Conclusion: The prosecution material was restored for further lawful action, and the impugned acceptance of the report was annulled.

Ratio Decidendi: A report under Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 cannot be accepted by relying on extraneous defences or administrative opinions when the record discloses prima facie material supporting the prosecution case.

---