MOHAN MALLU RATHOD Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners have filed this petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India and section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for quashing the orders passed by the Special Judge, Kolhapur on five applications filed by the petitioners for various reliefs in Special Case No. 1 of 1983.

(2.) Petitioner Nos 1 to 13 (Original Accused Nos. 1 and 4 to 15 in Special Case No. 1 of 1983) are public servants being members of the Police force. At the material time petitioner No. 1 was working as a Sub-divisional Police Officer at the city sub-divisional of Kolhapur city. Petitioner Nos. 3 to 8 who are Police constables were attached to the Laxmipuri Police Station at Kolhapur. Petitioner Nos. 9, 10 and 13 were attached to Police headquarters and petitioner Nos. 11 and 12 were working as wireless operators at the Police Control Room at Kolhapur and petitioner Nos. 14 and 15 (original accused Nos. 15 and 17) are panch witnesses who attested the panchanama; alleged to be made in respect of the raid carried out on Parvez Mitra Seva Mandal, a common gaming house, on the night between 8th and 9th December, 1981. The raid in question was ordered by petitioner No. 1 and was carried out by original accused Nos. 2 and 3, the Police Officers who were attached to the Laxmipuri Police Station at Kolhapur, at the material time.

(3.) It is the case of the prosecution that petitioners and original accused Nos. 2 and 3 entered into a criminal conspiracy during 1st December, 1981 and 2nd January, 1982 to do certain illegal acts by illegal means, by raiding Parvez Mitra Seva Mandal, a common gaming house on the night between 19th and 20th December, 1981 with the ulterior motive of mis-appropriating the amount found there and for demanding and accepting illegal gratification and to let out the persons taken in custody at the gambling den and to accept illegal gratification for releasing the arrested persons on bail and to lodge first information report incorrectly and to carry out gambling raid without panchas and no in accordance with law and to prepare statements of witnesses without questioning them and to manipulate changes in the log sheets of the Police Control Room and to destroy original pages of the log sheet of the mobile police van and to intentionally aid the persons found in the common gaming house to escape and to direct the station house officers, Laxmipuri Police Station to adjust entries in the station diary and to make false entries in the station diary and temporarily misappropriate the amounts shown to have been attached in the common gaming house. It is further the prosecution case that in pursuance of the said criminal conspiracy the petitioners did various acts amounting to offences punishable under sections 161, 165-A, 201, 218, 221 and 409 read with section 34 and section 109 I.P.C. and section 5(2) read with section 5(1)(c) and (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.