VINAY KUMAR BAWA Vs. STATE OF H.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, Vinay Kumar, stands charged by the learned Judicial Magistrate 1st Class (I), Dharamsala as under: - That in the year 1989 you accused in connivance with the bank officials and other accused dishonestly induces the bank authorities to deliver loan money by affixing your thumb impressions being guaranty of different loanees to deliver the money to your self, and prepared forged receipts, medical certificates and thereby you cheated the bank and committed an offence under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and within my cognizance. Secondly in the same year you forged a document namely loan cases of Sudesh Kumar, Nand Lal and Heera Lal by affixing your thumb impression in the loan papers in place of other persons. You also prepared forged document by giving receipts which created loss to the bank. You accused also prepared forged medical certificates of Cows in loan cases of Kailasho Devi, Ashok Kumar and Changu Ram to receive money/moveable property and thereby committed an offence under Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code and within my cognizance. Thirdly in the same year you committed forgery on the document of loan cases of different persons who never appeared in the bank and used for cheating the bank to receipt/valuable security and thereby you committed an offence under Section 468 of the Indian Penal Code and within my cognizance. Fourthly in the same year you accused dishonestly uses as genuine the document of loan cases of different person which you know to be forged documents and thereby you committed an offence under Section 471 of the Indian Penal Code and within my cognizance. And I hereby direct you to be tried on the said charge."

(2.) Feeling aggrieved, the petitioner is before this Court by way of the present revision petition assailing the charges framed against him under Section 240 Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

(3.) As per the prosecution case in about 17 cases of loans disbursement by the Himachal Gramin Bank for purchase of cattle, the same were found to have been disbursed in favour of persons who were found to have never resided at the addresses mentioned in the various loan documents. On the basis of the report made by the Bank a case came to be registered with Police Station (Enforcement), North Zone, Dharamsala vide FIR No. 24 of 1989. During the course of registration, it was revealed that the petitioner in connivance with the certain Bank officials and others had drawn loans from the Bank fraudulently on the basis of forged documents and had thus misappropriated the Bank money. After necessary investigation, the challan was put in court sometime in November, 1998 against the petitioner and five others. Two of the accused, namely, Ram Parasad and Banwari Lai have been declared proclaimed offenders while one accused, that is, Sita Ram has since died. The case is thus pending against the petitioner and two others, that is, proforma respondents 2 ar -J