IN RE: E.K. KRISHNAN Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant has been convicted by the Chief Presidency Magistrate, Egmore, of an offence punishable under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, on three separate counts; and on each count, he has been sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 100, the sentences of imprisonment to run concurrently.

(2.) THE charge relates to three offences committed within the course of a year, from the nth December, 1945, to the 16th April, 1946, all of the same description. The gravamen of the charge is that the appellant used to approach persons desirous of obtaining licences for the driving of cars and other vehicles and promise them, that if they would give him a sum of money, (Rs. 35 in one case) he would procure them licences without the necessity of their undergoing any test. The customary procedure to be adopted in a genuine application would be for the applicant to obtain a challan for Rs. 2 and submit an application with that challan, a photograph, and a medical certificate, for a licence. If the application is in proper form, the applicant will have to submit to a test which would be carried out by the Motor Vehicles Inspector, who, if he is satisfied with the applicant's skill, will send the application back to the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Traffic Department. The applicant will then have to pay another Rs. 5, whereupon an order for the issue of a licence will be made. The evidence is to the effect that this procedure was not adopted in the cases under charge and that the appellant, who was an assistant to the Traffic Head Constable, arranged everything for the applicant, filled in his form, got a certificate attached to the application forged, filled it in as if the test had been completed, himself made an entry in what is known as the Test Register and then got the application sent to the various officials in the office upon which the licence was in due course granted.

(3.) CHEATING is defined in Section 415 of the Indian Penal Code, in these words: