STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH Vs. RAMANAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE State is in appeal against the acquittal of the respondents herein, who shall here-in-after be called as 'the accused', denoted as A-1 and A-2, respectively, for the offences under Sections 41 and 42 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (for short 'the Act'), by the learned Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Rajgarh, District Sirmaur, H.P., in Cr. Case No. 21/3 of 2003, titled State of Himachal Pradesh vs. Ramanand and another, vide judgment dated 26.8.2004.

(2.) SHORN of details the prosecution case was that on 16.8.2002, PW-1, Shri R.S. Banyal, DFO, Rajgarh, along with Range Officer, PW-4, Shri Sanjeev Kumar and other forest officials was on way back from Habban to Rajgarh. PW-2, Shri Amar Chand, Forest Guard, had also been instructed to meet them at the boundary of his beat. After taking him along the forest officials went to Kotal (Neri Kotli). There they found that A-1 Ramanand had installed a sawmill. However, he was not having any registration certificate in respect of the said sawmill, which was against the forest laws and rules. On these allegations, damage report Ex.PW-2/A was issued by PW-2 Amar Chand, Forest Guard.

(3.) AFTER hearing the parties, the learned trial Court proceeded to acquit the accused.