BISWAJIT DAS V. CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

The case arose from a fraudulent insurance scam which involved officials connected with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI). The appellant (Biswajit Das), worked as a Development Officer in LIC. He was charged of conspiring with others to fraudulently acquire insurance claim amounts by pretending that the covered individual had passed away while, in reality, the person was actually alive. The Trial Court convicted the appellant under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 including Sections 468, 271, 465, and 420 read with Section 120(B) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The Gauhati High Court affirmed the conviction and sentence. Thereafter, the appellant approached the Supreme Court through a Special Leave Petition under Article 136 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court first sent out a restricted notice, limiting the appeal to: 1. Whether the appellant could be convicted under Section 13(1)(d) read with Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act; and 2. The question of sentence. However, the appellant raised the crucial constitutional question of extending the scope of appeal under Article 136 during the last hearing by requesting permission to contest the conviction in its entirety.