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PATNA HIGH COURT
H.K.Chaudhuri and Ramratna Singh JJ.
State Of Bihar
Versus
Kailash Prasad Sinha
Decided On : FEBRUARY 06, 1961
CRIMINAL LAW - Conspiracy - Cheating - Forgery - Evidence - Appreciation - Circumstantial evidence - Presumptions - Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Sections 120B, 420, 471/467.
Fact of the Case:
The case involved a conspiracy to cheat the Ration Office at Patna by presenting forged chalans and obtaining ration authorities on the basis of those forged chalans and thereafter taking delivery of grains from the Government godowns. The prosecution alleged that between October 1952 and February 1954, the respondents conspired to commit the said offences and that they used to get indent and chalans passed at the initial stage at the Sectional Office and then take the chalans to the treasury. After the chalans were passed at the treasury, they, however, never went to the bank to deposit the money. Instead, they used to forge the seals and endorsements of the bank and the signatures of the signing authorities on the chalans showing falsely that the amounts had been duly deposited there and present them at the Ration Office.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that the chalans were forged as they contained spurious seals and endorsements of the bank and the signatures of the bank officials and that no money had been deposited in respect of any of these chalans at the treasury. The Court further held that both the Munshis used to go to the Ration Office to take the ration authorities and also go to the godowns to lift grains. Besides these two Munshis, respondent Ambika was also found to have lifted grains on some occasions. The Court also found that respondent Adya wrote all the forged chalans of the shops of Kailash except exhibits 3/30 and 3/39 which were in the handwriting of respondent Ragho. As regards the chalans of the other shop, the Court found them all to be in the handwriting of Ragho. The Court further held that the respondents had taken delivery of grains from the Government Godowns and kept them in the two shops but that it was possible that they were mere tools of some person actually running the shops.
Issues: 1. Whether the chalans were forged and no money had been deposited in respect of any of these chalans at the treasury? 2. Whether the respondents had used the forged chalans and cheated the Rationing Authority? 3. Whether the respondents had conspired to commit the said offences?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The Court held that the chalans were forged as they contained spurious seals and endorsements of the bank and the signatures of the bank officials and that no money had been deposited in respect of any of these chalans at the treasury. The Court relied on the evidence of the Handwriting Experts and the surrounding circumstances to conclude that the chalans were in the handwriting of the respondents. 2. The Court held that the respondents had used the forged chalans and cheated the Rationing Authority by presenting them before the Rationing Authority knowing or having reason to believe them to be forged documents and by inducing them to deliver ration authorities and taking delivery of grain. The Court held that the respondents actively participated in the process of presentation of the forged chalans and that they had benefited from the forged documents. 3. The Court held that the respondents had conspired to commit the said offences. The Court relied on the circumstances of the case, including the fact that the respondents were actively involved in the process of presentation of the forged chalans, that they had benefited from the forged documents, and that they had not provided any explanation for their conduct.
Final Decision: The Court allowed the appeal against respondents Ragho and Adya and dismissed the appeal against the rest. The Court sentenced each of the respondents to six years rigorous imprisonment and also to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000.00 under each section. The sentence of imprisonment was to be concurrent in each case.
H.K.Chaudhuri, J.
1. This is an appeal by the State Government from an order of acquittal of the respondents who were tried by the learned Additional Sessions Judge of Patna on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and using forged documents.
2. During the material period, there were two ration shops at Mahalla Kadam Kuan in the town of Patna - one standing in the name of respondent Kailash, Prasad Singh and the other in the name of respondent Shyam Sunder Singh, Respondent Adya Prasad was the Munshi of the first named shop while respondent Ragho Prasad was the Munshi of the latter shop. Respondent Ambika Prasad was a helper of Adya Prasad. Occasionally he worked for the other shop also. The case against the respondents was that between October 1952 and February 1954 they conspired to cheat the Ration Office at Patna by presenting forged chalans and obtaining ration authorities on the basis of those forged chalans and thereafter taking delivery of grains from the Government godowns.
On this allegation, a charge under Sec.120B read with Sections 420 and 471/467 of the Indian penal Code was framed against all the respondents. Three of them, viz., Adya Prasad, Ragho Prasad and Ambika Prasad, were also specifically charged under Sections 420 and 471/467 of the Indian Penal Code. The total quantity of grains fraudulently taken delivery of during the aforesaid period was 24544 maunds valued at Rs. 4,88,163/4/6.
3. In order to understand the modus operandi of the fraud it is necessary to explain the entire procedure from the submission of indents by shopkeepers up to the stage of delivery of grains to them. The shopkeepers were to submit their indents for grains in printed forms with chalans at the sectional office of the rationing department to which they were attached. The system of supply of grains on ration cards, which was prevalent during the period of control till the middle of 1952, was changed to free supply thereafter when, according la the prosecution, shopkeepers used to get supplies according to their demands. After the indents and chalans were passed by the sectional office they were returned to the parties concerned who then went to the treasury along with the chalans, which were in duplicate, and presented them to the clerk. The treasury clerk was to put his initials on the chalans and endorse them with a stamp "To The Imperial Bank of India" (as it then was). In case of chalans of Rs. 500.00 and above, the treasury officer himself signed them and entries were made fa the "Receipt Enforcement Register". The next stage consisted of the tender of these chalans at the bank and the actual deposit of the money there by the shopkeepers. It is unnecessary to go into the details of the procedure at the bank at this stage. All that I need state is that at the end of the day one copy of the receipted chalan used to be made over to the party depositing the money. The other copy along with a copy of the banks scroll used to be sent to the treasury on the next day. The treasury sent the chalan to the Ration Office along with the treasury schedule containing the details of the receipted chalans of that department once a month. The purpose of sending these schedules to the Ration Office was to enable that office to verify the genuineness of the chalans presented by the parties with reference to the entries in the schedule. The evidence, however, shows that the persons whose duty it was to make tills verification at the Ration Office seldom cared to do so with the result that numerous chalans, which are the subject-matter of these charges, were never verified by the staff with reference to the treasury schedules.
4. After obtaining the receipted chalans in the bank the parties presented them at the Ration Office during the early hours of the day. Thereafter, ration authorities or permits used to be drawn up at the office on the basis of these receipted chalans and made over to the parties concerned. At the time of delivery
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