RADHA BALLAV PAL Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The appellants in this case - Radha Ballav Pal and Ram Chandra Shee - have been convicted under Section 420 read with Section 120-B, I.P.C., and on seven separate counts under Section 420, I.P.C., They have been sentenced under the conspiracy charge to imprisonment and fine. The case against the appellants arose from a scheme of so-called insurance launched by what was known as Bharat Circulating Society. This society published widely in the press and elsewhere what is called a new attractive scheme which will confer money benefits on the policy-holders in the shape of twelve times the money each one had contributed. The main points of what may be called the prospectus were as follows: On receipt of Rs. 5 only the company will issue an acknowledgment receipt and will register the payee as one of the policy holders. The company will issue two fresh policies of the same value covering the original policies. In this way circulation will be going on by the issue of fresh policies. The company expects that the number of policies will be multiplied more and more and that once benefited, the policy holders will not hesitate to renew their applications over and over again thus ensuring limitless prospect of expansion and thereby it is expected that no difficulty will be experienced for payment to the policy-holders in the manner stated above. The first payment will be one after the expiry of sixty days from the date of payment, and the payment will continue for twelve months. Thus each policy- holder will get Rs. 60 in fourteen months.

(2.) This original scheme was supplemented by the issue of two other kinds of policies. They were known as the B and C schemes. Under the B scheme an investment of Rs. 5 brought in a sum of Rs. 30 in six monthly instalments. Under the other scheme a policy of Rs. 5 brought in Rs. 15 within three months. Numbers of people were induced to invest sums of money in the scheme and numbers of agents were employed on lavish terms as to commission and bonus to popularize it. It has been found by the learned Magistrate that a number of original investors were repaid and indeed the direct evidence in this case established that out of Rs. 91,000 realized from the public Rs. 45,000 was paid out to investors. The further findings of the learned Magistrate are that a few minutes of intelligent consideration of the various schemes put forward by the society is enough to show anybody not of subnormal intelligence that the scheme is bound to fail. It appeared too absurd according to the learned Magistrate for these schemes to work with any success; but there are always to be found among the general public large numbers of gullible and stupid people ready to risk small sums of money in wild cat schemes in the expectation that the promises made will be fulfilled and they will get rich quickly. Many of them hoped, in this case that at any rate, even if the schemes ultimately broke down, this would not occur until their dues had been repaid. The learned Magistrate further found that so far as the general public, who purchased the policies, was concerned, it may be said that some of them did so, because they were too obtuse to realize the weakness of the schemes which were advertised, while others were actuated by a wild hope that somehow their own money might be repaid to them with the promised profits before the crash came.

(3.) In view of these findings of fact it seems to us to be extremely difficult to hold that an offence either of conspirary to cheat or of substantive cheating, can possibly be made out in the present case. The charges framed against the appellants were firstly, that they were parties to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence of cheating by deceiving the unwary members of the public and thereby dishonestly inducing them to deliver sums of money amounting to Rs. 5 or multiples thereof, as purchase price of the policies promised to be issued under the schemes "A," "B" and "C" aforementioned. The subsequent charges of cheating were with regard to a number of items of cash said to have been delivered by various people in consequence of the deceit consisting of representations and conduct specified in the conspiracy charge. These overt acts were stated to be the starting of a bogus company known as the Bharat Circulating Company; the circulation of literature containing misleading statements; the appointments of agents and payments to investors, purporting to be in accordance with the terms of the original policies. I refer to this matter for the purpose of emphasizing that the prosecution did not and do not rely, for the purpose of bringing home the specific charges of cheating to the appellants, upon any deceitful representation said to have been made to any of the depositors beyond what is contained in the original prospectus. We have found in the evidence a statement as to certain representations made by the appellants to would-be-depositors which, if accepted as true, might possibly support a specific case of cheating in respect of the person to whom they were said to have been made. But, as no reliance has been placed upon that evidence, we are not further concerned with it.