( 1 ) THIS is an appeal against acquittal preferred by the State represented by the public Prosecutor against the Judgment dated 24th July, 1996 passed by the learned judicial Magistrate of First Class Spl. Mobile court, Mahabubnagar, in C. C. No. 256 /1994.

( 2 ) THE accused-respondent was charged for the offences under Sections 468, 471 and 420, IPC on the allegation that he forged the s. S. C. Certificate for the purpose of seeking appointment in APSRTC (for brevity "the corporation ) as Conductor and used the forged document as genuine certificate with dishonest intention and induced the department by delivering the certificate and therefore liable for punishment for the said offences. He pleaded not guilty of the charges when the charges were read over and explained to him. During the course of the trial, three witnesses P. Ws. 1 to 3 were examined on the side of prosecution and exs. P-1 to P-6 were marked.

( 3 ) THE case of the prosecution as seen from the testimony of the witnesses, in brief, is that pursuant to the notification issued by the Divisional Manager, Mahabubnagar division of the Corporation, the accused, and several others applied for the posts of