Offence Of Bribery Not Dependent On Actual Performance Of Act For Which Bribe Is Taken, Mere Acceptance Of Bribe Enough : Supreme Court

The offence of bribery is complete the moment illegal gratification is accepted and is not dependent on the actual performance of the promise for which the bribe was sought, stated the Supreme Court.A 7-judge Constitution Bench of the Court made this observation in the momentous judgment holding that legislators accepting bribes for casting votes or giving speech in the legislature cannot. The offence of bribery is complete the moment illegal gratification is accepted and is not dependent on the actual performance of the promise for which the bribe was sought, stated the Supreme Court. Referring to the illustrations of the provision, the Court stated that "the offence of bribery crystallizes on the exchange of the bribe and does not require the actual performance of the act." Referring to the 2022 Constitution Bench judgment in Neeraj Dutta v. State, the Court stated, "Consequently, the actual “doing or forbearing to do” the official act is not a constituent part of the offence.