PRABHAKAR DATTATRAYA HAVAL Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an appeal under Clause 11 of Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance No. XXXVIII of 1944 preferred by Prabhakar Dattatraya Haval whose properties came to be attached under the provisions of the said Ordinance, upon an offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act being registered against him and upon an application then being made for attachment of his properties in pursuance of then provisions of Clause 3 of the said Ordinance.

(2.) THE appellant herein was employed as Superintendent of the Land Records at Bombay at the relevant time i. e. in 1984. Upon a raid on his house and a search taken, certain properties, including fixed deposit receipts, gold and silver ornaments were found and a case for possession of properties disproportionate to his known source of income came to be registered. Actually, there were two offences registered against the appellant, the first numbered as 12/84 dated 5-3-1984 and this was under section 5 (1) (a) and 5 (1) (b) read with section 5 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. Upon completion of the investigation in this offence, a charge-sheet was presented against him on 5-3-1985 and the criminal case was numbered as 7 of 1985.

(3.) C. R. No. 13/84 was also registered against the appellant on 13-3-1984 and this was in respect of an offence under section 5 (1) (e) read with section 5 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. It is not in dispute that investigation in this offence took considerably a long time and the same was completed and a charge-sheet came to be filed only in December 1989. The criminal case was registered as 70/89.