EMPEROR Vs. RAGHO RAM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by the Local Government against the acquittal of Ragho Ram, respondent, of charges of falsification of accounts under Section 477-A, Indian Penal Code.

(2.) Ragho Ram was the goods clerk in charge of the goods office at Jaunpur, E.I. Ry., station. He misappropriated various sums of money that were paid by consignees of goods on account of the freight of consignments. He was accordingly prosecuted under Section 409, Indian Penal Code, for having committed criminal breach of trust with respect to three items and the learned Assistant Sessions Judge convicted him and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for three years and also to a fine of Rs. 500. The conviction and sentence were on appeal upheld by the learned Sessions judge. Ragho Ram filed an application in revision in this Court against the appellate order of the learned Sessions Judge and we have today dismissed that application.

(3.) Ragho Ram was separately tried under Section 477-A, Indian Penal Code, for having fraudulently falsified the delivery book with a view to cover the defalcations made by him. The evidence shows that when the consignment of goods was sent from any station to Jaunpur, an invoice was sent to Jaunpur containing details of the consignment, and this invoice was copied into the left hand page of the delivery book in the goods office and after the delivery of the goods to the consignee the right hand page of the delivery book was also rilled in. Sometimes through mistake it so happened that an invoice was copied in twice over in different places on the invoice side of the delivery book, and when the goods arrived and delivery was effected the relevant entry on the delivery side of the register was made as against one of the invoice entries.