CH VENKATASUBBAYYA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a criminal revision case which has been filed against the conviction and sentence of the Additional Stationary Sub-Magistrate, El-lore, in C. C. No. 2160 of 1952 which was confirmed by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Eluru in C. A. No. 104 of 1953.

(2.) THE facts lie in a brief compass: The criminal revision petitioner before us Venkatasubbayya was working as a godown keeper in Ellore Co-operative Stores. In this case there was a co-accused (second accused) who had been acquitted in the lower Court, He was the manager of the said stores. The stores has seven depots under its control. The criminal revision petitioner was in charge of the main depot. According to the bye-laws of the stores this petitioner should sell the stocks in his custody to the customers, supply stocks to the other depots, write bills for the sales made by him, credit the daily sale amount in chittas maintained by the manager and obtain a receipt from the manager on the next day after the day's work. Then he should prepare an abstract of the daily sales from the bills and should account for the amounts realised by sale. In other words the actual entrustment was with and remittance was to be made by this petitioner and the over-checking of the same was entrusted to the manager. If this criminal revision petitioner (godown keeper) had been honest and the manager had been careless, nothing would have happened, or if the go-down keeper had been dishonest and the manager had been careful in checking, even then nothing would have happened. But what happened was the godown keeper was dishonest and the manager was careless and did not attend to the work of checking the accounts. The inevitable result happened which will be set out in the next paragraph.

(3.) DURING the period from 4-7-1951 to 11-11-1951 this godown keeper effected cash sales to the extent of a total sum of Rs. 20,585-5-8 and remitted to the stores only Rs. 18,272-13-5. He had failed to account for Rs. 2,312-8-3. Exhibit P. 18-a is the list furnished by the Deputy Registrar of Co-operative Stores, Ellore, showing the amounts collected by this petitioner by the sale of the articles of the stores and the amount actually remitted by him, making out the figures mentioned above.