PRABIR KUMAR BHATTACHARYA Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This criminal revision invoking section 482 of the Code, is brought before this Court by the petitioners against an order passed by a Special Court rejecting their prayer for discharge and challenging an order passed by the self-same Court under section 93 of the Code.

(2.) The background facts of the case are as follows; On the basis of a complaint in writing made before the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate, Howrah by one Swapan Kurnar Banerjee alleging commission of some cognizable offences against the petitioners, the learned Magistrate referred the same under section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure to the Officer-in-Charge, Howrah Police Station with a direction to treat the complaint as First Information Report and to cause investigation. Whereupon the Howrah Police Station Case No. 113 of 2000 under sections 420/468/471/477A/120B of the Indian Penal Code was registered.

(3.) It was alleged in the said complaint that the complainant, who was a registered Government Contractor was awarded with a job for laying pipelines in connection with water supply system at Mazu and its adjoining areas within the Howrah Division. In terms of the said work order the complainant was to execute the work by employing his own labours against supply of raw materials by the Public Health Engineering. In course of execution of the said work the accused persons. viz. Prabir Kumar Bhattacharya, Executive Engineer, Pratip Rudra. Assistant Engineer, Sujit Chowdhury, Sub-Assistant Engineer, all attached to the Public Health Engineering, Howrah Division, issued several H.R. for supply raw materials to the complainant for the said job. To execute the aforesaid work some additional jobs were required to be done for which the department invited separate tenders and the complainant being the lowest bidder was also allotted with those additional jobs. In connection with those additional works the accused persons also issued H.R. for delivery of raw materials. While the aforesaid work was almost complete, out of grudge and ill-motive and with a view to blacklist the complainant, the accuseds filed a case before the Certificate Officer, Howrah, alleging that the de facto -complainant took delivery of excess materials worth Rs.6,91,604/- in connection with the said job and for recovery of the said amount of money. In course of such certificate proceedings the said accused persons allegedly filed some forged documents, viz. hand receipts issued by the defacto-complainant, in support of their claim. When objection was raised against those documents, which appeared to be forged, the learned Certificate Officer called for an explanation from the accused persons but they gave no explanation. According to the defacto-complainant, the accused persons submitted those hand receipts, in the certificate proceedings forging the signature of the complainant.