MADHUKAR JOSHI Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These three criminal appeals are directed by the accused against the judgment delivered by the Additional Sessions Judge, Poona, who has convicted them under section 120-B read with section 408 of the Indian Penal Code, section 120-B read with section 420 of the Indian Penal Code, section 120-B read with section 471 of the Indian Penal Code, sections 465, 467 and 468 of the Indian Penal Code read with ssection 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced accused Nos. 3 and 4 to suffer rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/- and in default of payment of fine to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 3 months on each of the first three counts. Accused No. 2 was also sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 2 years and a fine of Rs. 1500/- and in default of payment of fine to suffer rigorous imprisonment for six months on each of the first three counts. Substantive sentences were directed to run concurrently. No separate sentences were imposed against any of the accused under sections 465, 467 and 468 read with section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) These accused along with five other accused were serving in Poona Municipal Corporation at the relevant time. It appears that there was over-payment to the employees of the conservancy department of the Municipal Corporation to the extent of Rs. 15,431.89 during the period from 1st March, 1964 to 31st December, 1964. It was the case of the prosecution that all these eight persons have conspired to make such over-payments and thus caused wrongful loss to the Corporation. Accused No. 1 Charles N. Daniel was serving at that time as Sanitary Inspector in the Health Department of the Corporation, while accused No. 3 Gangaram Jadhav, accused No. 3 Laxman Adsul and accused No. 5 Raghunath Chowk were, at that relevant time, serving as Mukadams in the Sanitary department. Accused No. 4 Madhukar Joshi was serving as Pay Clerk in the Conservancy Department. Accused No. 6, Madhusudan Kale, accused No. 7 Vishnu Gandhi and accused No. 8 Miss Kunda Bhende were the Internal Auditors of the Corporation. It may be mentioned that there is a Refuge Transport Division of the Health Department, the function of which was to collect refuge from different wards, load it in the refuge vans with the help of the labourers attached to each van and dump it at the specified place during the day. Each van is allotted a number of labourers whose names are noted down in the diary by a Mukadam at the place from which these refuge vans start in the morning, viz., from High Level Tank. This job was done by Mukadam Basappa Shivram Kamble (P.W. 20). It may also be mentioned that as soon as these vans started early in the morning with the complement of the labourers and drivers, they had to pass to the various wards allotted to them via Swargate Naka, where another Mukadam of the Sanitary Department, Accused No. 3 Laxman Adsul was posted, whose job was to note down serially the numbers of the vans and the names of the labourers attached to these vans. This, he had to note on printed forms maintained in duplicate, a copy of which he maintained himself and the other copy was sent to the Health Department every day. These forms are called Rojavadas. Accused No. 3 had also to prepare the Muster rolls every day on the basis of the Rojavadas after all the vehicles, which were about 27 in number, had passed. It may be mentioned that all these vehicles were supposed to pass through Swargate Naka before 8 O clock in the morning because they were supposed to collect the refuge right from the morning during the course of the day. It may be mentioned that the permanent complement of labour attached to these refuge vans was 189 labourers. It often happened that some of the permanent labourers were absent. In their place, the substituted labourers were engaged. The substituted labourers were available at the High Level Tank where they collected at the relevant time offering their services. They were recruited in the absence of the permanent labourers. The Muster Roll of these substituted labourers was prepared separately from the Muster Roll of the permanent labourers. In addition to this, seasonal work was undertaking by this department viz. at the time of onset of the monsoon or in the monsoon itself when additional labour was required to be recruited to collect the refuge which accumulates and those employees were not called substituted labourers because they were additional employees for the season and that was why they were called seasonal labourers and their Muster Roll was also prepared separately. It will be, therefore, clear that on the basis of Rojavada, three Muster Rolls were prepared.

(3.) It is the case of the prosecution that accused No. 4 Madhukar Joshi had to prepare the pay bills of only permanent employees with the help of accused No. 2 Gangaram Jadhav and accused No. 5 Raghunath Chowk who is already acquitted. It may be mentioned that the Muster Rolls were sent to the accused No. 4 at the end of the month and he was expected to make the payment on the basis of the Muster Rolls that were sent to him and he was supposed to disburse the payment to the employees on the spot at High Level Tank with the help of the above-mentioned two employees on the 3rd day of the next month. It is the case of the prosecution that each employee was given a pay slip on the earlier day showing the amount of pay that he was to receive on the day of the payment. He has to be present at the High Level Tank and whenever his name was called, he had to present that slip to accused No. 5 first who used to take the thumb impression or signature of the employee and he used to call for the amount mentioned in the slip and accused No. 4 Madhukar Joshi used to pay that amount through accused No. 2 who used to disburse that amount to the employee. It was alleged by the prosecution that some of the employees who had, in fact, not worked for the whole month were shown in the Muster Roll having worked for the whole month and that salary for the whole month was drawn for them but at the time of the payment, the employee was told that he had not worked for the whole month and that he had worked only for a few days and that is why the salary was paid to him only for those days on which he had worked and the rest of the salary was pocketed by accused No. 2 Gangaram Jadhav. It is the case of the prosecution that in this way, accused No. 3, Laxman Adsul, accused No. 4 Madhukar Joshi and accused No. 5, Raghunath Chowk have misappropriated the amount which belonged to the Corporation and for that purpose they have forged and falsified the documents and that is how they have committed the offences.