HRUDANANDA SETHI Vs. REPUBLIC OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner Hrudananda Sethi in CRLREV No.21 of 2003 and the petitioner Achyutananda Panda in CRLREV No.17 of 2003 faced trial for offences punishable under Sec. 420, 468, 471 read with Sec. 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (in short, 'I.P.C.') in the Court of learned Addl. C.J.M. -cum- Special C.J.M. (C.B.I.), Bhubaneswar in S.P.E. Case No.43 of 1994 for committing criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery for the purpose of cheating and dishonestly and fraudulently using the forged document as genuine one. The learned trial Court vide impugned judgment and order dtd. 5/3/2002 found both the petitioners guilty of the offences charged and sentenced each of them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years and to pay a fine of Rs.3,000.00 (rupees three thousand) each, in default of payment of fine, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six months more on each count for the offences under Sec. 120-B/420/468 of I.P.C. and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year each for the offence under Sec. 471 of the I.P.C. The substantive sentences were directed to run concurrently. The petitioner Hrudananda Sethi preferred Criminal Appeal No.16/24 of 2002 and the petitioner Achyutananda Panda preferred Criminal Appeal No.12/23 of 2002 and both the appeals were heard analogously by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court No.II, Bhubaneswar and vide common impugned judgment and order dtd. 21/12/2002, the learned Appellate Court upheld the impugned judgment and order of the learned trial Court and sentence passed thereunder and dismissed both the criminal appeals. Since both the revision petitions arise out of the same case, with the consent of the parties, those were heard analogously and are being disposed of by this common judgment and order. Prosecution Case:

(2.) The prosecution case, in short, is that on the basis of source information, first information report (Ext.56) was registered on 8/2/1994 initially against the petitioner Hrudananda Sethi, Postal Assistant and one Kartika Chandra Mohanty, authorized postal agent of Jajpur Road Railway Station Sub-post office on the accusation that they conspired with each other and in pursuance of such conspiracy, the postal department was cheated to the tune of Rs.32,831.00 during the period from 14/6/1993 to 20/10/1993 by forging the signatures of the depositors and they took payment of withdrawals in respect of depositors Arjuna Sethi (P.W.1), Janaki Ballav Pradhan (P.W.2), Ramakanta Sahu (P.W.3) and Gangadhara Nayak (P.W.4). P.W.9 Gopabandhu Pati, Inspector of Police, C.B.I., Bhubaneswar during investigation of the case found that there was a withdrawal of Rs.8,500.00 (rupees eight thousand five hundred) on 20/10/1993 from S.B. A/c. No.132441 standing in the name of P.W.1 who deposited his pass book on 8/6/1993 with the petitioner Hrudananda Sethi under proper acknowledgement, but the petitioners made payment to one Aruna Chandra Sethi through messenger P.K. Sethi after verifying the specimen signature. The A/c. holder P.W.1 denied to have received the payment and as such it was concluded that the petitioners are liable under Sec. 120-B/420/467/468/471 of the I.P.C. It was also found that the petitioners who verified the specimen signature, have fraudulently taken a withdrawal of Rs.5,000.00 (rupees five thousand) on 14/6/1993 from R.D. A/c. No.11508 standing in the name of P.W.4. It was also revealed that the petitioners made a fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.2,500.00(rupees two thousand five hundred) on 26/6/1993 from R.D. A/c. No.11569 without the knowledge of P.W.3, the A/c. holder. The petitioners in pursuance of the conspiracy between them also fraudulently withdrawn Rs.6,000.00 (rupees six thousand) on 3/7/1993 from R.D. A/c. No.11663 without the knowledge of P.W.2, the A/c. holder. The I.O. came to the conclusion that in all the above instances, the petitioners cheated the postal department by causing a wrongful loss by way of forgery and using forged documents as genuine. The petitioner Hrudananda Sethi, however deposited a sum of Rs.13,000.00 (rupees thirteen thousand) towards the defrauded amount vide ACC-67 receipts dtd. 4/4/1994 for Rs.12,000.00 (rupees twelve thousand) and dtd. 18/4/1994 for Rs.1,000.00 (rupees one thousand). The petitioner Hrudananda Sethi also deposited Rs.2,762.50 (rupees two thousand seven hundred sixty two and fifty paise) towards principal and interest on 6/1/1994 in respect of R.D. A/c. No.11569. The documents were seized and witnesses were examined and on completion of investigation, the I.O. found prima facie evidence against the petitioners under Sec. 120-B/420/467/468/471 of the I.P.C. and accordingly, charge sheet was filed on 31/8/1994 against them. Prosecution Witnesses And Documents Exhibited By Prosecution:

(3.) During course of trial, the prosecution examined nine witnesses. P.W.1 Arjuna Sethi is one of the depositors who stated about withdrawal of a sum of Rs.8,500.00 from his S.B. account by forging his signature on the withdrawal slip (Ext.5). P.W.2 Janakiballav Pradhan is a depositor who stated about withdrawal of a sum of Rs.6,000.00 from his R.D. account by forging his signature on the withdrawal slip (Ext.8). P.W.3 Ramakanta Sahu is a depositor who stated that he himself withdrew of a sum of Rs.2,500.00 from his R.D. account and further stated that nobody had forged his signature for withdrawal of the said amount and he proved his signatures in the withdrawal form and further stated that he had not submitted any written report (Ext.16) to the Asst. Superintendent of Post Office. P.W.4 Gangadhara Nayak is a depositor who stated about withdrawal of a sum of Rs.5,000.00 from his R.D. account by forging his signature. P.W.5 Narayan Chandra Behera was working as Complaint Inspector, Cuttack North Division, Cuttack, who proved the entries in different pass books of the depositors and the statements made by them before P.W.8. P.W.6 Ashok Kumar Nayak was working as Postal Assistant in Head Post Office, Bhadrak and he is a witness to the seizure of documents marked Ext.23. He stated that the petitioner Hrudananda Sethi has deposited the misappropriated amount of Rs.12,000.00 from R.D. A/c. No.132441 and also deposited Rs.6,000.00 in R.D. A/c. No.11663 standing in Jajpur Road Railway Station Sub-post office on 4/4/1994. He further stated that he also received Rs.1,000.00 from the petitioner Hrudananda Sethi, which was fraudulently withdrawn from R.D. A/c. No.11663 standing in Jajpur Road Railway Station Sub-post office. P.W.7 Muralidhar Satpathy, who was working as U.D.C. in Jajpur Road Electrical Division, stated about filling up of the withdrawal slip on behalf of P.W.3 as the latter approached him for such purpose. P.W.8 Satyabrata Satpathy, who was working as Asst. Superintendent of Post Offices, Cuttack North Division conducted enquiry into the allegations made by some depositors being directed by the Superintendent of Post Offices, Cuttack North Division, Cuttack and submitted the Enquiry Report to the Chief Post Master General, Odisha vide Ext.53. P.W.9 Gopabandhu Pati is the Investigating Officer of the case. The prosecution exhibited fifty seven documents. Ext.1 is the receipt of pass book, Ext.2 is the application of P.W.1, Ext.3 is the specimen signature of P.W.1, Ext.4 is the deposit slip, Ext.5 is the withdrawal slip dt.20/10/1993, Ext.6 is the statement of P.W.1, Ext.7 is the specimen signature of P.W.2, Ext.8 is the withdrawal slip dt. 3/7/1993, Ext.9 is the statement in two sheets of P.W.2, Ext.10 is the specimen signature in a sheet of P.W.2, Ext.11 is the application of P.W.3 for opening the account, Ext.12 is the specimen signature slip of P.W.3, Ext.13 is the R.D. pass book of P.W.3, Ext.14 is the authorization of cashier to P.W.3, P.W.15 is the withdrawal slip dtd. 26/6/1993, P.W.16 is the written report given to A.S.P. by P.W.3, P.W.17 is the specimen signature of P.W.3, P.W.18 is the signature of P.W.3 on back of S/R., Ext.19 is the application form for opening the account by P.W.4, Ext.20 is the specimen signature slip of P.W.4, Ext.21 is the statement given by P.W.4 to A.S.P., Ext.22 is the specimen signature of P.W.4, Ext.23 is the seizure list dtd. 16/8/1994, Ext.24 is the A.C.G. receipt book, Ext.25 is the seizure list dt.2/8/1994, Ext.26 is the seizure list dtd. 10/8/1994, Ext.27 is the seizure list dtd. 22/8/1994, Ext.28 is the seizure list dtd. 25/10/1994, Ext.29 to Ext.29/4 are the specimen signatures of the petitioner Hrudananda Sethi in five sheets, Ext.30 is the withdrawal form, Ext.31 is the ledger card of P.W.4, Ext.32 is the ledger card of P.W.3, Ext.33 is the ledger card of P.W.2, Ext.34 is the ledger card of P.W.1, Exts.35 to 40 are the daily lists of transactions dtd. 14/6/1993, 23/12/1993, 26/6/1993, 3/7/1993, 3/7/1993, 6/1/1993 and 20/10/1993, Ext.41 is the pay in-slip form of Rs.2762.50 p., Exts.42 to 47 are the sub-office daily account, Ext.48 is the statement of L.D. Kar, Ext.49 is the statement of S. Mohanty, Ext.50 is the statement of K.C. Mohanty, Ext.51 is the statement of the petitioner Hrudananda Sethi, Ext.52 is the statement of the petitioner Achyutananda Panda, Ext.53 is the enquiry report, Ext.54 is the letter sent to S.E.Q.D., Ext.55 is the report of G.E.Q.D., Ext.56 is the F.I.R. and Ext.57 is the seizure list dt.10/8/1994. Defence Plea and Defence Witness: