Wakilii

Remtulla v Rex (Criminal Appeal No. 217 of 1949)

East African Court of Appeal · [1949] EACA 47 · 1949 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal from conviction in High Court of Tanganyika
Decision
Conviction upheld

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The Court of Appeal held that under section 91(2) of the Penal Code, a person who corruptly gives or offers money to a public officer to induce omission of duty commits an offence regardless of whether the corrupt gift was corruptly accepted. Proof of corrupt acceptance by the recipient is not a necessary element of the offence.

Outcome

Conviction upheld

Facts

The accused owned a bus on which a plain clothes constable was counting passengers. The accused winked at the constable and handed him Sh. 15, asking the constable to leave him alone. The constable immediately drew his associates' attention to the fact that they had witnessed him being given the money. The accused was convicted of corruption of a public officer.

Issues

  1. Whether proof is necessary that a corrupt gift or offer was corruptly accepted by the recipient for an offence under section 91(2) to be established.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Corruption of Public Officers — Elements of Offence — Acceptance Not Required
Under section 91(2) of the Penal Code, it is unnecessary to prove that a corrupt gift or offer to a public officer was corruptly accepted by the recipient; the offence is complete upon the corrupt giving or offering of money to induce omission of official duty.
Penal Code s.91(2) — Construction of Corruption Offence
Section 91(2) of the Penal Code cannot be construed to require proof of corrupt acceptance without doing serious violence to the English language and common sense; the provision criminalises the act of corruptly giving or offering, not the transaction as a whole.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Penal Code s.91(2)

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Remtulla v Rex (Criminal Appeal No. 217 of 1949) [1949] EACA 47 (1 January 1949)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.