HARBHAJAN LAL Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present petitioner Harbhajan Lal was working as a conductor in the Punjab Roadways. He was tried in the Court of Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Batala, for having committed an offence falling under section 409 of the Indian Penal Code. The learned Magistrate convicted him and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of Rs. 150. In default of payment of fine, further rigorous imprisonment for two months was also awarded. His conviction and sentence was upheld by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Gurdaspur, in appeal filed by the petitioner. The petitioner has now filed this revision petitioner.

(2.) THE prosecution story in brief is that on 11th September 1976, the petitioner, who was on duty with bus No. PUC 7506, had been entrusted bus-fare tickets of the value of Rs. 612.20 (At some places in the evidence this value has been given as Rs. 614.20). The bus was going from Ajanta to Batala. The bus was intercepted near village Chamairi by Inspectors Som Nath (P.W.2) and Balwant Singh. On checking, those inspectors found that the petitioner had charged fare from 23-1/2 passengers but had not issued tickets to them. The Inspectors made note to that effect in the way-bill, which was with the petitioner, and also took unpunched tickets worth Rs. 13.45 pertaining to those 23-1/2 passengers for handing them over to the said passengers. The petitioner was required to deposit the same proceeds of the tickets with the Cashier on the same day at the close of his duty. However, he did not turn up in the office on that day as well as on the next day nor did he arrange to deposit the cash collected by him by sale of the tickets with the cashier. P.W.S Teja Singh, General Manager of the Punjab Roadways vide letter, Exhibit PD, addressed to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Gurdaspur, got a case registered against the petitioner. After necessary investigation the accused was charge-sheeted.

(3.) TO connect the accused with the offence, the prosecution examined only official witnesses who explained the procedure about handing over bus-fare tickets to a conductor when he left with the bus and about his duty to deposit the cash with the cashier at the close of his duty. P.W. 4 Mohinder Singh, Booking Clerk, had further stated that when the accused did not deposit the way-bill or the unused tickets he reported the matter to the higher authorities. It is also in his statement that on 8th November 1976, the accused came to him and deposited a sum of Rs. 200/- besides unused tickets of the value of Rs. 155.15. As the unpunched bus tickets of the value of Rs. 13.45 had been taken by the Inspectors from the petitioner, as noticed earlier, the learned trial Court found that the petitioner had misappropriated Rs. 243.60 and convicted him accordingly under section 409 of the Indian Penal Code.