Offer of a Bribe and Demand of a Bribe Compared

An offer comes from the payer and a demand comes from the public servant. The distinction decides which offence is committed, who is the victim and who the offender, whether the protection for a compelled giver is available, and how strong the prosecution's evidence is likely to be. It also marks the line between collusive corruption, in which the payer buys something he is not entitled to, and extortive corruption, in which he pays for what is already his due.

1. The Comparison

Basis	Offer	Demand
Who makes it	The payer, or someone on his behalf	The public servant, or a middleman on his behalf
The provision	Section 8, which covers giving or promising to give an undue advantage	Section 7, in which demand is implied in obtains and attempts to obtain
When the offence is complete	On the promise; nothing need pass, and the offer may be refused	On the demand, which is an attempt to obtain
Character of the corruption	Typically collusive: the payer seeks an advantage he could not lawfully obtain	Typically extortive: the payer is made to pay for what he is entitled to
Position of the payer	An offender under Section 8, with no protection	An offender under Section 8 unless compelled and he reports within seven days
Evidentiary consequence	The public servant may be the one who complains, and the evidence comes from him	The payer complains, and the case is built as a trap

2. The Two Offences Are Independent

An offer refused is still an offence. Section 8 is complete on the giving or the promise, so a public servant who declines the offer and reports it has been the object of a completed offence by the payer.
A demand unmet is still an offence. Section 7 covers an attempt to obtain, so a demand followed by refusal to pay leaves the public servant liable.
Both may occur in one transaction. Where the official demands and the payer, wanting something he is not entitled to, willingly pays more than was asked, each has committed his own offence.
Neither depends on the other's conviction. The liability of the payer does not require the public servant to be convicted, and the reverse is equally true.

⚠ Why the distinction matters to the defence of the payer

The proviso to Section 8 protects a person compelled to give who reports within seven days. Compulsion presupposes a demand: a person who offers a bribe without being asked is not compelled by anything, and the protection is unavailable to him however genuine his commercial pressure. A payer seeking to rely on the proviso must therefore establish that a demand was made, that he had no practical alternative, and that he reported within the period. This is also why the classification of a case as collusive or extortive, which sounds like a matter of description, is in fact the first question in advising the payer.

3. Evidential Consequences

In a demand case the payer is the natural complainant, the trap is the standard investigative technique, and the evidence is the verification, the shadow witness, the recovery and the washes.
In an offer case there is usually no complainant at all, because both sides are satisfied. Such cases surface through an audit, an insider, an intercepted communication or the investigation of something else, and the evidence is documentary and financial rather than a trap.
Where a public servant reports an offer, the case against the payer is built on the official's complaint, and a trap may be laid in reverse, with the official receiving the payment under supervision.
The middleman. Where an offer is routed through a third person, Section 7A reaches the middleman who takes the advantage to influence the public servant, and Section 8 covers the giving to another person on the official's behalf.

4. Related Topics and Provisions

Topic or provision	Connection
Section 8: The Bribe Giver	The offence of giving and the seven-day protection
Active and Passive Bribery	The terminology of the two sides
Demand and Acceptance Compared	The facts the prosecution must prove against the official
Sections 7, 7A and 8, Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988	The provisions applied