RAJENDRA SHARMA Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Appellant Rajendra Sharma along with Shankar Dayal Sah (dead) and Prayag Sah suffered conviction under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, for violation of provisions of Bihar Trade Articles (Licenses Unification) Order, 1984 (hereinafter called as "Unification Order") and while the appellant was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a term of six months, Shankar Dayal Sah and Prayag Sah were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a term of three months each. As during pendency of appeal, Shankar Dayal Sharma was reported to be dead, appeal as against him had abated. It was brought to the notice of the Court that no appeal was preferred by other convict Prayag Sah.

(2.) Factual matrix.--Allegedly pursuant to apprehension of one Prayag Sah with a tin of 18 litres of kerosene oil, said to have been purchased from fair price shop of the appellant through his employee Shankar Sah in black market, business premises of the appellant was searched by the Circle Officer, Jandaha, Vaishali, in course of which maldistribution of essential commodities to the consumers attached to the fair price shop of the appellant, came to his notice, and prominent among those maldistributions was that though there should have been only 128 litres of kerosene oil in the stock, on strength of entries made in the stock register, on physical verification, there had been seizure of 180 litres of kerosene oil from the stock. Instances of maldistribution of sugar had also come to notice of the Circle Officer, Jandaha, during inspection of the fair price shop of the appellant. A Police case had been registered, pursuant to which on conclusion of investigation, charge-sheet was laid before the Court against the appellant and two other convicts. During trial, while prosecution had examined 10 witnesses, not less than seven witnesses had been examined on behalf of the defence.

(3.) Defence of the appellant had been that of innocence and he ascribed false implication by the Circle Officer at the instance of Up Mukhiya and Sarpanch, for his failure to oblige Circle Officer to make payment of unauthorised toll.