JUDGMENT

VENKATARAMIAH, J.:— Four persons - Maj. General (Retd.). F. D. Larkins. Air Vice Marshal (Retd.), K. H. Larkins. Lt. Col. (Retd.), Jasbir Singh and Jaspal Singh Gill alias Jassi Gill, the respondent herein were accused of having committed offences punishable under Sections 3, 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 read with S. 120-B of the Indian Penal Code and of them F. D. Larkins and Jasbir Singh were also accused of having committed the offence punishable under Section 6 of the Official Secrets Act; 1923 in a complaint, filed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Branch, Delhi with the authorisation of the Government of India before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Patiala House, New Delhi.

2. The prosecution case appears to rest inter alia on the following facts : On March 24, 1983, Group Captain Jasjit Singh informed the Air Vice Marshal (now Air Marshal) Shri S. Raghavendran that for some days immediately prior to that date AVM (Retd.) K. H. Larkins then resident of Azad Apartments, Mebrauli Road. New Delhi, under whom he had served earlier, was inducing him to pass on secret manuals of aircrafts used by the Indian Air-Force for a consideration of Rs. 20,000/- per document. AVM Raghavendran brought this to the notice of his superiors. Thereafter further information was collected and the movements of AVM (Retd.) K. H. Larkins were kept under observation. The links of the said K. H. Larkins and his brother Major General (Retd.) F. D. Larkins were discovered. A First Information Report was registered at Police Station, Tughlak Road, New Delhi.

3. On November 11, 1983 raids were conducted at the residence of K. H. Larkins as well as that of F. D. Larkins. Certain incriminating items are stated to have been recovered from the latters house. It is alleged that on interrogation after arrest F. D. Larkins and K. H. Larkins confessed that they had been passing on classified information relating to the defence of the country to a foreign agency.

4. It is further alleged that Major General (Retd.) F. D. Larkins stated that he had engaged Lt. Col. (Retd.) Jasbir Singh as his sub-agent for procuring secret / restricted documents and manuals relating to armament. On this disclosure the search of the house of Jasbir Singh was conducted on November 13, 1983 and be was arrested and remanded to police custody. It is stated that on interrogation he disclosed that he had been passing on secret / classified information to Major General (Retd.) F. D. Larkins and Jaspal Singh Gill, the respondent, for monetary consideration. He appears to have further disclosed that many secret / restricted manuals and documents were unauthorisedly got issued to him from D. G. I. and EME libraries to which he gained access through the good offices of certain Army officers and by impersonating himself as a serving officer when actually he was retired and that the information contained in these documents and manuals was passed on by him to Major General (Retd.) F. D. Larkins and Jaspal Singh Gill alias Jassi Gill resident of 82, Sunder Nagar, New Delhi, the respondent, who represented a private firm namely, M/s. EMGEE International Pvt. Ltd. and with whom the, Lt. Col. (Retd.), Jasbir Singh, was also working as consultant. On the basis of the said disclosure made by the said Jasbir Singh, the search of the house of Jaspal Singh Gill alias Jassi Gill, the respondent herein, was conducted at 82, Sunder Nagar, New Delhi. Some secret/restricted documents along with a Defence telephone directory connected with the Army are stated to have been recovered from his possession and he was arrested on November 19, 1983.

5. It is alleged that the respondent herein had obtained classified information on defence matters through the aforesaid Jasbir Singh for monetary consideration and had passed on the information to the U. S. Intelligence Operators. During the search of the house of Jaspal Singh as many as 13 invitation cards from the U. S. offi