Section 23 The Prevention of Corruption Act,
Section 23 β The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
(As per the original and amended versions)
π Title:
"Particulars in a charge in relation to an offence under section 13(1)(a)"
π Bare Text of Section 23:
"Where a person is charged with an offence under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 13, it shall be sufficient to describe the property in respect of which the offence is alleged to have been committed, and the dates between which the offence is alleged to have been committed, without specifying particular items or exact dates, and the charge so framed shall be deemed to be a charge of one offence within the meaning of section 219 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973."
β Explanation in Simple Terms:
This section provides procedural relief to prosecutors while framing charges for the offence of criminal misconduct related to possession of disproportionate assets (Section 13(1)(a)).
Here's what it means:
When someone is accused of having assets disproportionate to known sources of income, it is not necessary to:
List each specific asset/item, or
Mention exact dates.
Instead, it is enough to mention:
The type of property (e.g., cash, land, gold), and
The period during which the offence allegedly occurred.
Such a charge will be treated as a single offence under Section 219 of CrPC, which otherwise limits the number of offences in one charge.
π Purpose of Section 23:
Makes it easier to prosecute complex corruption cases involving many assets over long periods.
Avoids technical loopholes that could result in acquittals for want of overly detailed charges.
Recognizes the difficulty of tracking every transaction in corruption cases.
βοΈ Example:
If an officer is accused of amassing disproportionate wealth between 2015 and 2020, the prosecution does not need to list each transaction or item (like exact purchase date of a property or gold).
They can just say:
βBetween 2015 and 2020, the accused accumulated assets worth βΉ2 crores disproportionate to his known income.β
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