STATE Vs. PYARE LAL NEHRU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this Judgment, we purpose to dispose of four connected appeals of the appellant as the evidence in all the four is common and the same questions of law and fact arise.

(2.) Shri P.L. Nehru, appellant herein, was working as Collective Cashier in M/s New India Assurance Company Ltd., New Delhi, during the period 1961 to 1963. Shri S.N. Gupta was one, amongst many other Inspectors, entrusted with the job of collecting premium from the insured persons either in cash or by cheque, and issue receipts for the same. The Inspectors thereafter deposited such collections with the Collective Cashier. In acknowledgement of the premium so received, the Collective Cashier was required to sign four copies of the receipts in the custody of the Inspector and retain one copy with him for record. This receipt is known as7-A. It was the duty of the Collective Cashier to send daily collections to the Central Bank of India, Janpath, New Delhi through separate pay-in slips and in return, obtain bank counterfoils, duty stamped and initialled by the bank in respect of all such deposits made into the bank. It was also the duty of the Collective Cashier to record such daily collections in a book known as "cash income book". The record of such daily collections used to be sent to the Head Office together with relevant copies of the receipts tendered by the Inspectors. The Central Bank of India, Janpath, on their side, were required to prepare and send monthly statements, generally known as "bank passbook" to the Head Office of the company at Bombay apart from a copy of the same to the New Delhi Branch. Since the originals of the counterfoils were sent to the Head Office at Bombay, the reconciliation was also done there.

(3.) While checking and reconciling the bank account, the Head Office at Bombay discovered that the bank had not given credit for some deposits made by the Collective Cashier. The matter was got checked up from the internal auditor of the company who found that some of the amounts which were shown to have been deposited by Shri P.L. Nehru in the bank were not actually deposited and in order to avoid detection, various documents were forged. The internal auditor submitted a detailed report in this behalf to the Head Office indicating that the Collective Cashier has misappropriated a total sum of Rs. 42,026.36 and to achieve that end, various documents were forged from time to time.