HARDEEP SINGH Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) These two appeals are filed against orders passed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in two separate cases though arising from the same set of facts.

(3.) The Appellant, Hardeep Singh was engaged in running a coaching centre, called "Deepika Classes" where students were given tuition to prepare them for entrance tests for different professional courses. On June 8, 1992, it was reported to the Collector, Jabalpur, Raghav Chandra that the Appellant had asked some of his students to pay him Rs. 50,000/- for giving them the question papers for the pre- medical test in three subjects. The Collector decided to set up a trap for catching the Appellant. The complainant before the Collector had with him only Rs. 10,000/- at that time. The Collector, therefore, called the City Magistrate and instructed him to take out Rs. 10,000/- from the Collectorate Nazarat. The currency notes taken out from the Nazarat were marked and the decoy was sent to pay to the Appellant Rs. 20,000/-, including the money taken out from the Nazarat. Then a raid was conducted at the house of the Appellant in which Rs. 20,000/- with the marked currency notes of Rs. 10,000/- were recovered. The Appellant was arrested and a criminal case (Criminal case No. 314 of 2004) was instituted against him under Section 420 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 3/4 of The (Madhya Pradesh) Recognized Examinations Act, 1937. He was brought to the police station in handcuffs and his photographs in handcuffs appeared in the local newspapers. The police submitted charge sheet in the case on the basis of which the Appellant was put up on trial. The trial went on, as is not uncommon in this country for several years at the end of which he was acquitted on August 26, 2004.