The central legal point established in the judgment is the requirement of proving mens rea and actus reus in cases of fraud and cheating, and the burden of proof on the prosecution to establish criminal intent.

Anjana Prakash, J.-Both the Appellants have been convicted under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to One year Rigorous Imprisonment as also under Section 420 read with 120B of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to One year Rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 3,0001- in default of which Three months Rigorous Imprisonment. The Appellant Bidyut Kumar Pal has also been convicted under Section 477-A of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to Rigorous Imprisonment for Two years and under Sections 13(1)(d)/13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and sentenced to One year Rigorous Imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1,0001- in default of which Rigorous Imprisonment for Two months by the Special Judge, C.B.I., South Bihar, Patna, by a Judgment dated 15.3.1996 in Special Case No.34 of 1990.

2. The case of the prosecution briefly stated is that while Appellant Bidyut Kumar Pal was posted as a Clerk in Patna University Branch of Allahabad Bank during 1989, he allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy with Appellant Bhishma Prasad Sharma, Proprietor of the Prabnat Printing Press, Muzaffarpur, and wrongly credited a sum of Rs. 1,88,2531- to his firm's Account a cheque meant for Vishwamitra Paper Industry Ltd. on 31.3.1989 which Bhishma Prasad Sharma periodically withdrew between 4.4.1989 and 21.10.1989.

3. To prove the requirements of the Sections, the prosecution examined ten witnesses out of whom PW-1 (Ashok Kumar Sinha) is formal and only on the point of his introduction on the account opening form (Exts.-2 and 2/A) of Appellant Bhishma Prasad Sharma. Similarly, PW-2 (Bhuneshwar Singh) former Bank Manager of Allahabad Bank is merely on the production of Current Ledger and Log Book marked X and Y for identification.

4. P.W. 3 Madhusudan Rai Sharma was the Assistant General Manager of Allahabad Bank, who proved the sanction for the prosecution of the Appellant Pal.

In his cross-examination, he stated that in Banks there is a provision for daily, weekly and monthly balancing. It is when this balancing of figures is done, the defects are detected. In the concerned Bank, there was no balancing being done. He further stated that sometimes there was mistake in totalling of the figures.

5. P.W. 4 George Joseph was an employee of the State Bank of India, Bailey Road Branch. In Court, he brought the Ledger Book of his bank which was certified by the then Branch Manager Marked as Ext.-4. Undisputedly, Cheque No. A74/ 100/403567 was dated 16.3.1989 to the tune of Rs. 1,88,203/- and was to be credited to Vishwamitra Paper Industries Ltd. The same had been sent to the State Bank of India from Allahabad University Branch for clearance and had been processed by him. The cheque is marked as Material Ext.-1 and his signature on the same is marked Ext.-5. When the cheque was cleared, the amount was paid to Allahabad Bank. The concerned ledgersheet is marked Ext.-4-A. The next cheque no. Al74/1 00/40611•2 dated 18.3.1989 for the amount of Rs. 33594.40 was issued by the Director, Primary Education, in favour of Prabhat Printing Press, Muzaffarpur. The said cheque had also been received by the State Bank of India. for clearance from Allahabad Bank, Patna University Branch and the same was cleared by him. The Cheque is exhibited as Material Ext.-IIA and his signature on the same is marked as Ext.-5/A. He stated that the first cheque was sent to his bank on 30.3.1989 from Allahabad Bank and on the same day he had debited the amount from the account holder.

6. P.W. 5, Firoz Raza, was an employee of Allahabad Bank, who brought the Ledger Book and proved entry dated 31.3.1989 which was in the handwriting of Appellant Pal marked Ext.-6. He stated that the entry was on the basis of the cheque and pay-in-slip. As per procedure, the particular in the pay-in-slip was filled by the party depositing the cheque and the Cashier receives the clearing cheque whose handwriting was marked Ext.-? He further stated that the cheque and pay-in-slip