K. VIJAYAKUMAR Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The sole accused in C.C. Nos. 55/2000, 58/2000, 59/2000, 60/2000, 61/2000 and 62/2000 is the appellant in the above cases. The accused was charge sheeted by the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Vigilance & Anti Corruption Bureau, Alappuzha in V.C.No. 7/1996 of VACB, Alappuzha alleging offences under sections 13(1)(c) read with section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, (hereinafter referred to as 'the P.C. Act') & sections 468, 471 & 409 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) The case of the prosecution in nutshell was that the accused in the above cases was working as Junior Employment Officer, District Employment Exchange, Alappuzha during the period from 24.11.1989 to 24.6.1991 & during that period, he had misappropriated an amount of Rs. 42,320.00 by forging 23 vouchers showing the registration numbers & names of some persons, who were said to have registered under the Unemployment Assistance Scheme entrusted to him on 27.11.1990, 30.11.1990, 22.12.1990. 24.12.1990 and 20.2.1991, which amount was entrusted to him for the purpose of disbursement to the beneficiaries under the scheme & he had created those documents with fraudulent intention to misappropriate the amount & thereby he had committed the above said offences.

(3.) As there were complaints of irregularities in the disbursement of the amount under the Unemployment Assistance Scheme effected during the period 1990-1991 in the office of Alappzuha District Employment Exchange, the District Employment Officer, PW1, was directed to conduct audit in respect of the same. He conducted audit relating to disbursement of the amount under the said scheme during that period. He had only conducted a random inspection during the period of his audit from 24.11.1992 to 28.11.1992 and found that by forged 23 vouchers in the names of fictitious persons with some false addresses & registration numbers, a sum of Rs. 42,320.00 was misappropriated and it was also found that this was done by the accused & the concerned section clerk and others & submitted Ext P1 report which was forwarded to the Vigilance Department, on the basis of which, a vigilance enquiry was conducted & on the basis of the vigilance report, Ext.P77 First Information Report was registered as Crime No. 7/1996/VACB, Alappuzha by PW58 against the present accused, Pws4, 7, 14 & 13 and Mariyumma (the then Junior Superintendent) alleging offences under section 13(1)(c) read with section 13(2) of the P.C. Act & sections 468, 471 and 409 read with section 34 of the Indian Penal Code. Investigation in this case was conducted by PW59. He questioned the witnesses and recorded their statements. He seized Ext.P3 series vouchers as per Ext.P41 inventory. He had seized Exts.P21 to P24 and P31 registers as per Ext.P41 inventory. He had seized Ext.P25 and 26 attendance registers as per Ext.P78 inventory. He had seized Exts.P29 postal cover addressed to Sri. P. Soman, P30 postal cover addressed to Sri. K. Ramachandra Prasad, P32 postal cover addressed to Sri. K.V. Gopalakrishnan, P33 postal cover addressed to Sri.K. Ramachandra Babu, P34 postal cover addressed to Sri. K.P. M. Thomas, P35 postal cover addressed to Sri. K. Bhanumathi, P36 postal cover addressed to Smt. S. Ambika Devi, P37 postal cover addressed to Sri.C. Prasad, P38 postal cover addressed to Sri. P. Venugopal, Ext.P39 postal cover addressed to Sri. K.V. Satheesan, P47 postal cover addressed to Smt. M.K. Kamalamma, P48 postal cover addressed to Sri. K.P. Raveendran, P49 postal cover addressed to Smt. K.P. Leelamani, P50 postal cover addressed to Sri. P.Sudhakaran, P51 postal cover addressed to Sri.Sudhakaran Achari, P52 postal cover addressed to Smt. Soubhagyavathi, P53 postal cover addressed to Sri.Harikumar, P54 postal cover addressed to Sri.B. Chandrahasan, P55 postal cover addressed to Sri. A. Rajasekharan, P56 postal cover addressed to Sri.K. Venugopal, P57 postal cover addressed to Sri. K. Ramachandra Prasad and P58 postal cover addressed to Sri. V.K. Babu proved through PWs 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 as per Ext.P79 inventory & seized Exts.P59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 & 65 reports given by PWs47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52 & 53 village officers as per Ext.P80 inventory. He had seized Exts.P81 & 82 letters as per Ext.P83 inventory. As per Ext.P42 inventory, he had seized Ext.P46 report & Exts.P84, P85 & P89 as well. He had seized Ext.P4 record of registration containing Exts.P4(a) to P4 (e) & Ext.P5 record of registration containing entries Ext.P5 (a) & Ext.P6 record of registration containing entries Ext.P6 (a), Ext.P7 record of registration containing entries Ext.P7(a) and Ext.P8 certificate of registration No.4215/84 in the name of Sri. Ramanan, Ext.P9 record of registration containing entries Ext.P9(a), Ext.P10 record of registration containing entries Ext.P10(a), Ext.P11 record of registration containing entries Ext.P11(a), Ext.P12 record of registration containing entries Ext.P12(a), Ext.P13 record of registration containing Ext.P13 (a), Ext.P14 record of registration containing entries Ext.P14 (a), Ext.P15 record of registration containing entries Ext.P15 (a), Ext.P16 record of registration containing entries Ext.P16(a) , Ext.P17 record of registration containing entries Ext.P17(a), Ext.P18 record of registration containing entries Ext.P18(a), Ext.P19 record of registration containing entries Ext.P19(a), Ext.P20 record of registration containing entries Ext.P20 (a), Ext.P21 office year book containing entries Ext.P21(a) to P21 (d), Ext.P22 distribution register containing entries Ext.P22(a) to P22(k) & original of Exts.P57 to P76 which were later substituted by certified copy showing the relevant entries during the course of trial as per supported inventories produced by the respective officers. After completion of the investigation it was revealed that the present accused alone was responsible for making the false entries & created false vouchers and misappropriated the amount entrusted to him for the purpose of disbursement. He gave final report for approval against the first accused alone deleting other persons shown in the First Information Report & submitted draft final report along with the request to grant sanction to the appointing authority for prosecuting the accused under sections 409, 468, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code and Sec. 13(1)(c) read with section 13(2) of the P.C. Act, 1988 and PW60, the appointing authority had perused the materials & gave Ext.P91 sanction as required under law. PW61 his successor obtained Ext.P91 sanction for prosecution against the accused from PW60 & verified the records, completed the investigation & submitted split final reports against the accused. On the basis of Ext.P3(a) to P3(c) voucher No. 22670 for an amount of Rs. 200.00, voucher No.22688 for an amount of Rs. 1620.00, voucher No. 22691 for an amount of Rs. 1620.00 dated 27.11.1990 totalling an amount of Rs. 3 ,440.00 C.C. No. 55/2000 was taken on file. In respect of vouchers Ext.P3 (d) to P3(f) with Nos. 22989 for Rs. 3,240.00 voucher No. 22990 for Rs. 2,340.00, voucher No. 22752 for an amount of Rs. 1,620.00 dated 27.11.1990 totalling an amount of Rs. 6,300.00 C.C. No. 56/2000 was taken on file. In respect of vouchers Ext.P3(g) to P3(i) voucher No. 22993 for Rs. 2,340.00, voucher No. 23017 for Rs. 2,340.00 & voucher No. 23093 for Rs. 2,340.00 totalling an amount of Rs. 7,020.00 dated 30.11.1990 C.C. No. 57/2000 was taken on file. In respect of vouchers Exts.P3(j) to (l) with voucher No.23106 for an amount of Rs. 2,340.00, voucher No.23239 for an amount of Rs. 480.00, voucher No.23427 for an amount of Rs. 1,860.00 totalling an amount of Rs. 4,680.00 dated 22.12.1990 C.C. No. 58/2000 was taken on file. In respect of vouchers Ext.P3(m) to (o) with voucher No. 23433 for Rs. 1,860.00, voucher No. 23437 for Rs. 1,860.00 & voucher No. 23461 for Rs. 1,620.00 totalling an amount of Rs. 5,340.00 dated 22.12.1990 C.C. No. 59/2000 was taken on file. In respect of vouchers Ext.P3(q) to (r) with voucher Nos. 23529, 23586 and 23568 for Rs. 960.00 each totalling an amount of Rs. 2,880.00 dated 24.12.1990 C.C.60/2000 was taken on file. In respect of Ext.P3(s) to (v) with voucher No. 23573 for Rs. 960.00 dated 24.12.1990, voucher No. 23967 for Rs. 2580.00 dated 31.12.1990 & voucher No.8123 dated 18.2.1991 for Rs. 2,580, totalling Rs. 6,120.00 C.C. No. 61/2000 was taken on file. In respect of vouchers Ext.P3(v) to (x) voucher No. 8300 for Rs. 2,580.00, voucher No. 8300 for Rs. 2,580.00 and voucher No.8581 for Rs. 1,860.00 totalling an amount of Rs. 7,020.00 C.C. No. 62/2000 was taken on file.