PARSHOTAM DASS Vs. STATE,

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant was tried for the offences covered by Sections 259 and 263 -A of the Indian Penal Code by Shri D.C. Aggarwal, Addl. Sessions Judge, Delhi who found him guilty and convicted him under both the provisions. For the offence covered by Section 259 the appellant was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one year and a fine of Rs. 500/ -, in default of payment whereof he was to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for four months and for the offence under Section 263 -A of the Indian Penal Code he was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs. 200/ -, in default whereof he was to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for three months.

(2.) ACCORDING to the prosecution P.W. 13 Sadhu Ram an Inspector of Police in the Crime Branch received information on the 27th of March, 1970 from one Babu Ram Sharma which was reduced to the statement Ex. P.W. 13/A in which disclosure was that forged postcards were being produced and used. In order to discover the crime P.W. 13 started searches. In the first instance he was led to the premises of M/s. Baldev Raj and Co., in Gali Arya Samaj, Naya Bans, Delhi. According to P.W. 13, 22 postcards were delivered by the firm Baldev Raj and Co. to him. The testimony of P.W. 4 and P.W. 11, which will be discussed later on, was to the effect that the said 22 postcards were recovered and taken into possession vide memo Ex. P.W. 3/A. Those postcards were identified at the trial as being Ex. P.W. 3/1 to 22. It is inacceptable (sic) as to why Baldev Raj was not apprehended and as to why evidence was not collected for prosecuting him. The allegations are that on account of the disclosure made by Baldev Raj P.W. 13 went to Everest Printing Press of which the appellant is admittedly the proprietor. A search was carried out in the presence of the appellant and 2,000 postcards were taken into possession vide Ex. P.W. 4/A which was attested by the witnesses. According to P.W. 13 : - "These postcards were converted into two sealed parcels each of 1,000 postcards. These postcards are in packets Ex. P.W. 1/1 to 20 of 100 each." The search was witnessed by P.Ws. 4 and 11. Examined in Court P.W. 4 stated that he had joined the police party which carried out in his presence the search of the Everest Printing Press on the 28th of March, 1970, in Gali Batashar, Khari Baoli, Delhi. Two thousand postcards were allegedly recovered and Ex. P.W. 4/A was prepared in respect of that seizure. When the postcards were shown to the witness in Court, he stated. - "I have seen the postcards Ex. P.W. 1/1 to 20. These are the same postcards which were recovered." The witness who happened to be a resident of Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi was included in the police party when he was in Khari Baoli. According to him, he had made a request that he should be joined as a member of the raiding party. The reason given was that being the Editor of a journal "Law of the Land" he felt interested in discovering as to what actually was happening in the matter of forging of stamps and postcards. It was put to him whether there was some indication mark on the postcards on account of which he was identifying them in Court. He said : - "There is no mark on these postcards for me to say that these are the same postcards which had been recovered from the accused." His testimony was challenged by suggesting that he was a stock witness of the police. He replied : "It is incorrect to suggest that I am a stock witness of the police and I am deposing falsely." It was not put to the witness that he had appeared as a witness at any particular trial. No evidence was adduced to establish that P.W. 4 was a stock witness of the police. P.W. 11 who also witnessed the search belonged to the Postal Services. He was functioning as Assistant Superintendent in the office of the Controller, Postal Services. He supported the version given by P.Ws. 13 and 4. He corroborated that 2,000 postcards were recovered from the Everest Printing Press of which the appellant was the proprietor and were taken into possession as evidenced by Ex. P.W. 4/A which he had signed.

(3.) THE postcards along with some others recovered in the course of different investigations were sent to Nasik for getting expert opinion as to whether the same were forged or not. P.W. 1 B.N. Kulthe, Expert in forged currency, bank -notes and other security items who examined the postcards when produced in Court stated : - "They were all in sealed conditions. On opening the parcel I found that there was a huge number of post cards and on examination. I found that those were printed from the blocks which were also in the sealed parcels. There were also some genuine post cards in the parcel. The forged post cards have been printed from blocks manufactured by photography, single and reply post cards. The fine details of Ashoka pillar in the stamp have been impaired due to reproduction and the fine lines in the background appear thick and broken at place. The shapes of letters and dotted lines of the address appear thick and irregular in size. The buff paper used for printing the forged post -cards is of a lighter shade in colour and of smooth surface. The forged postcards have been printed 4 on a sheet and cut while introducing tags which are wider than those found in the genuine post cards." The deposition disclosed that some of the postcards which were examined by P.W. 1 at Nasik were genuine while many of them were forged. Giving reasons for his opining that he had found the post -cards forged he deposed that the inks used in printing them differed in shades when compared with the genuine post -cards. A sealed parcel bearing the seals of the India Security Press, Nasik was opened and the witness stated that the seals on the cloth were genuine. As the appellant was being prosecuted on account of 2,000 forged post -cards allegedly recovered from the Everest Printing Press of which he was the proprietor the witness on being shown the 20 packets containing them identifying the same stated in examination -in -chief. - "These post cards are marked packet -wise as Ex. P.W. 1/1 to 20 of 100 postcards each." The cross -examination reveals that the identity of the post -cards examined by P.W. 1 at Nasik and those shown to him in Court in packets Ex. P.W. 1/1 to 20 was never questioned.