Bombay High Court acquits railway employee Sayyad Aslam Ali in CBI bribery trap case

The Bombay High Court's Nagpur bench on 5 November 2026 acquitted Sayyad Aslam Ali, an employee of S.E.C. Railway (South East Central Railway) in Bhandara district, in a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) bribery trap case. The court set aside his 2016 conviction under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, holding that the prosecution had not proved that he demanded a bribe.

What Happened

A special CBI court at Bhandara had convicted him on 30 August 2016 under Sections 7 and 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Act, and sentenced him to one year's rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000. According to the prosecution, he demanded Rs 2,500 from a shopkeeper in September 2009 to let the man graze his buffaloes along the railway line, the amount was later reduced to Rs 1,800, and the CBI caught him accepting it at the Sirsi railway gate on 3 September 2009.

The High Court held that the CBI failed to prove the demand for a bribe beyond reasonable doubt. It noted that the complaint was not properly verified and that the shadow witness saw only the handing over of the money, not any demand. Without proof of demand, the court said, the legal presumption under Section 20 of the Act could not be used against the accused.

The court also found that the sanction to prosecute, issued on 28 November 2009, was seriously doubtful: it described a different set of facts from the complaint, and the officer who granted it admitted he was not the employee's appointing authority. It added that an audio recording relied on by the prosecution had no certificate under Section 65B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and its transcript was not proved. The court allowed the appeal, quashed the conviction and cancelled the bail bonds.

What It Means

The ruling restates two points the court applied: in a bribery case, recovery of marked notes is not enough on its own, and the prosecution must first prove the demand; and a sanction to prosecute a public servant must show that the authority applied its mind to the facts.

Anyone asked for a bribe by an official can report it to the anti-corruption authorities; Oquilia's guide lists every state's helpline at https://www.oquilia.com/report-a-bribe.

Source: High Court judgment