AMIN CHAND Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants were convicted under S.3(1) of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 by the learned Addl. Sessions Judge, New Delhi and were sentenced to undergo to rigorous imprisonment for 3 years.

(2.) The charge against the appellants is that they were working as peons in the Directorate of Naval Engineering Naval Headquarters, Sena Bhawan, New Delhi and in that capacity they had access to the secret and classified documents and files. The allegation against them is that they were passing on classified information and documents till Jan. 1980 to one Mohd. Haroon under the assumed name of Raj Kumar and to one Mohd. Ashraff under the assumed name of Balbir and both these persons belonged to the Pakistan Intelligence and were working in the Pakistan Embassy as foreign agents. It is also alleged that on several occasions the appellants used to sneak out the files and classified documents from the Naval Headquarters and were handing over the same at different contact points to these foreign agents who would take a photo copy of the same, return these and then the appellants used to secretly bring the files back to the Naval Headquarters and put them at their proper places. This the appellants allegedly continued to do for a period of years and they were regularly accepting payments for the same.

(3.) Thus the charge against the appellants is that they have been passing on secret information and classified documents to foreign agents and that these documents and information was useful to the enemy agents and related to matters the disclosure of which was likely to adversely affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State and the friendly relations with the foreign States. The documents, according to the prosecution related to the naval establishment of the Government of India.