JAGDISH PRASAD Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Both appeals arise out of the same judgement and have been heard together and so will be governed by this common order.

(2.) All the three appellants are railway employees and were posted at the relevant time i.e. April and May, 1971, at the Sindri Railway Station of the Eastern Railway. Appellant J.P. Srivastava was posted at that time as Yard Master in the Sindri Marshalling Yard, appellant A. Soreng was posted there as the Assistant Goods Clerk and the third appellant M.M. Chakravorty was posted as the Trains Clerk. The allegation against these appellants is that they in conspiracy with each other and also the firm styled as M/s. Sindri Traders cheated the railway administration by getting 77 wagons allotted to M/s. Sindri Traders on the basis of forged allotment for actually transporting coal under the cover of transporting Cinder Ash, and with a view to carrying out this design the three appellants issued forwarding notes and railway receipts and certificates and actively helped the so-called M/s. Sindri Traders to load and transport coal from Sindri to different destinations in the country under the cover of Cinder Ash. The investigation was carried out by the C.B.I. which chargesheeted the said firm also besides the three appellants but as M/s. Sindri Traders could not be traced out, the trial of the appellants was separated and on conclusion of the same they were convicted and sentenced by the impugned judgement.

(3.) Appellant Jagdish Prasad Srivastava has been convicted for offences under Sections 420, 468, 477-A, I.P.C. and also under S.5(2) read with S.5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and for each of these offences he has been sentenced to undergo R.I. for three years. Appellant A. Soreng has been convicted under Sections 420, 477-A, 468/471, I.P.C. and S.5(2) read with S.5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and he also has been sentenced to undergo R.I. for three years for each of these offences. Appellant M.M. Chakravorty has been convicted under Sections 420, 468, 468/471, 477-A, I.P.C. and S.5(2) read with S.5(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and has been sentenced for each of these offences to R.I. for two years. The aforesaid sentences of all the three appellants have been ordered to run concurrently. Besides the above, all the three appellants have also been convicted for the offence of criminal conspiracy under S.120B, I.P.C. read with S.420, I.P.C. and S.5(2) read with S.6(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act but no separate sentence has been passed against them for the offence of conspiracy. It is not disputed that allotment of wagons for loading and transporting coal could be done by the Joint Director Transporting Coal, Eastern Railway, Calcutta and that the Divisional Office at Dhanbad (Sindri Station comes under this Divisional Office) was not competent to issue such authorisation. However, it is accepted that the Divisional Office was authorised and competent to issue letters for allotment of wagons for loading and transporting general merchandise goods and Cinder Ash comes within this category of goods.