TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2012 (10) TMI 1283
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....Appeal No. 1243 of 2007 passed by the High Court of Bombay, by way of which, the High Court passed an order of suspension of the conviction of the respondent under Section 13(2) r/w Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (hereinafter referred to as the `Act 1988'), passed by the Special Judge, vide order dated 15.10.2007 in Special Case No. 93 of 2000. 2. The facts and circumstances giving rise to this appeal are as follows: A) On 8.1.1999, Special Case No. 93 of 2000 in R.C. No. 39-A of 1999 was registered against the respondent, the then Superintendent of Central Excise, Mumbai, for the offences punishable under Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of the Act 1988, alleging that he possessed asset....
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....P. Malhotra, learned ASG, appearing on behalf of the appellant, submitted that the High Court could exercise its power under Section 389(1) Cr.P.C., for suspension of such conviction only in the rarest of rare case. In the instant case, as the respondent was a public servant and had been convicted on charges of corruption, the High Court was not justified in passing the said order of suspension of conviction. The High Court should have considered the ramifications of such suspension, as such an order would, no doubt demoralise the employers and also other public servants. Under no circumstance, does the case of the respondent fall under the exceptional circumstances under which, such an order would be warranted. Thus, it is nothing but an a....
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....95) 2 SCC 513, this Court dealt with the said issue elaborately and held that if, in a befitting case, the High Court feels satisfied that the order of conviction needs to be suspended, or stayed, so that the convicted person does not have to suffer from a certain disqualification, provided for by some other statute, it may exercise its power in this regard because otherwise, the damage done cannot be undone. However, while granting such stay of conviction, the court must examine all the pros and cons and then, only if it feels satisfied that a case has infact been made out for grant of such an order, it may proceed to do so and even while doing so, it may, if it so considers it appropriate, impose such conditions as are deemed appropriate,....
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....r the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act would lose his job in the event that the conviction was not stayed. The Court held that when a public servant is found guilty of corruption by a Court, he has to be treated as corrupt until he is exonerated by a superior Court in appeal/revision. Mere stay of the conviction during the pendency of the appeal should not confer any benefit upon such an employee, for the reason that if such a public servant is permitted to hold office and to perform official acts (unless he is absolved from such findings by a superior Court), public interest may suffer tremendously. It may also impair the moral of other persons manning such office and may further, erode the confidence of the people in public ....
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....n suspend "an order appealed against", i.e. an order of conviction, only if the convict specifically establishes the consequences that may follow if the operation of the said order is not stayed. Stay of conviction must be granted only in a rare case and that too, only under special circumstances. (See also: State of Punjab v. Navraj Singh AIR 2008 SC 2962; and CBI, New Delhi v. Roshan Lal Saini, AIR 2009 SC 755). 12. Thus, in view of the aforesaid discussion, a clear picture emerges to the effect that, the Appellate Court in an exceptional case, may put the conviction in abeyance along with the sentence, but such power must be exercised with great circumspection and caution, for the purpose of which, the applicant must satisfy the Co....