STATE OF U P Vs. VINAI KUMAR SRIVASTAVA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Aggrieved by an order of VI Addl. Sessions Judge dt. 4-2-1991 in Special Trial No. 1 of 1986 thereby refusing to commence de nova trial of the accused opposite party the State of U.P. have preferred the instant revision.

(2.) The accused-opposite party V. K. Srivastava was posted as Sales-tax Officer in Varanasi and on a particular date he is alleged to have taken a bribe of Rs. 500.00 when a trap was laid. On completion of investigation a charge sheet was filed under S. 161, IPC read with S. 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The trial commenced and several witnesses were examined by the prosecution in the court of VI Addl. Sessions Judge, Varanasi and the trial was numbered as Special trial No. 1 of 1986. A fire broke out in the precincts of the Civil Courts in Varanasi in Dec. 1988 which destroyed many judicial files. It is said that a file of the said trial was also damaged to some extent in the said fire but was retrieved after some time. On noticing that some part of the record was burnt out the parties were directed to file copies of those documents which they may be possessing for reconstruction of the record. On behalf of the accused opposite party some typed copies of statements of some of the prosecution witnesses were filed. However, the prosecution raised an objection that those copies were not correct statements. Some of the statements were allegedly having some corrections here and there which were objected to be intentional interpolations which may not have been existing in the original statements.

(3.) This appears to have prompted the public prosecutor to move an application before the trial Judge praying de novo trial and the same having been rejected this revision is being preferred against that order.