Purwar, who is retired now, was charged with taking money from a government contractor to pass an order in his favour. The CBI arrested him under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Telegraph Act, as the complainant had recorded the conversation between them when Purwar demanded the bribe.

According to the complainant, Kripashankar Chaturvedi, his own chartered accountant, Pradeep Banka, demanded money on Purawar’s behalf in 2001. The initial demand was alleged to be Rs 20 lakh but after negotiations it was reduced to Rs 8,50,000. The chargesheet against Purwar stated that he called Chaturvedi and said that Banka had given him only Rs 6,50,000 and if the remaining amount was not coughed up he would “spoil his case”.

Chaturvedi said in his complaint that he went to Purawar’s office at Piramal Chambers with Rs 50,000 on June 22, 2001. Purwar was caught by the CBI while accepting the bribe. The CBI also produced the telephonic conversation between Purwar and Chaturvedi as evidence against the former I-T official.

However, Purwar moved the Bombay High Court against the admissibility of telephonic conversation as evidence. A division bench on September 22, 2008 ordered that the trial court should go ahead and hear the matter expeditiously but had not passed any orders on the plea of Purwar.

The CBI examined ten witnesses to prove their case. The court, however, held that Purwar and Banka were falsely implicated in the case. Further, the court did not accept the taped telephonic conversation as to be that of Purwar. The duo was acquitted of all charges on Monday.