PIJUSH DEB Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is by Pijush Deb who has been convicted by the Judge, Special Court, Calcutta, under section 5(2) of Act II of 1947 read with section 5 (1) (c) of the said Act and also under section 467 of the Indian Penal Code.

(2.) The appeal arises in the circumstances which I shall briefly state. Pijush Deb, the accused, was a Cashier of the Local Office of the Employees State Insurance Corporation, Ghusuri, Howrah. He was in charge of disbursing the Sickness Benefit to insured workers. It is alleged that the accused misappropriated Government money payable to some insured persons as sickness benefit by forging thumb impressions and signatures of the payees and in some cases by forging signatures of the alleged identifiers of the payees. The allegations of the prosecution relate to several instances, six in number, but the learned Judge of the Special Court found the accused guilty in respect of the three instances and we give the following instances as follows:

(3.) The accused pleaded not guilty denying all allegations. He stated that there might have been some bonafide mistakes in the matter of payment. The learned Judge found him guilty under section 5 (2) of Act II of 1947 regarding Docket Nos. 100|80, 130|99 and 138|110 relating to the insured worker Sk. Cheddi, G.R. Maity and C. Dhar respectively and sentenced him to suffer R.I. for one year. The accused was also found guilty under section 467, Indian Penal Code, as already indicated, but without any separate sentence.