R C SODA Vs. STATE OF HP

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this common judgment, three appeals, all by different convicts, are being disposed of as thejudgment, whereby they have been convicted is the same. It is dated 7.12.2003 and has been delivered by learned Special Judge. Appellants have been convicted of offences, under Sections 409, 420, 120B, 465, 468, 470, 471 IPC and Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment and amounts of fine for different offences.

(2.) Prosecution's case may be summed up thus. During the period from 1993 to 1995, a scheme was introduced by the government for construction of dry latrines in rural areas of the State of Himachal Pradesh. Latrines were required to be constructed by the residents of villages and on construction of such latrines, they were to submit completion certificates, upon which they were to be paid, by way of incentive, Rs. 1,500, in the case of SC/ST and Rs. 1,200, in the case of general category of persons. This case pertains to some of the villages, falling in the area of Gagret Development Block in Una District. Appellant R.C. Soda was BDO during the aforesaid period. Other appellants, namely Ajay Kumar, Jaswant Singh, Devinder Kumar and Munshi Ram were Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikaris-cum-Secretaries of four different Panchayats.

(3.) Applications in the names of forty four persons, alongwith documents, like completion certificates, issued by Gram Panchayat Vikas Adhikaris-cum-Secretaries, were submitted to appellant R.C. Soda who passed orders for payment of incentive money on those applications. Money was then shown to have been disbursed in the record, maintained in the office of appellant R.C. Soda, to the persons, in whose names applications had been submitted. As a matter of fact none of the persons, in whose names applications were submitted. As a matter of fact, none of the persons, in whose names applications were submitted was paid any amount of money. In some cases, even the applications were forged. Not only that, in some cases even latrines had not been constructed.