IMPORTANT POINT
Possession of counterfeit currency alone does not warrant conviction under IPC Section 489A; trafficking established through possession leads to conviction under Sections 489B and 489C.

JUDGMENT :

(PER : HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO)

1. This appeal has been filed by the appellant under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure against the judgement and order dated 04.12.2017 passed by the learned 10th Additional Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad (Rural) (hereinafter referred to as the “learned Trial Court”) in a common judgment passed in Sessions Case No. 43 of 2016 and Sessions Case No. 250 of 2016.

1.1 The appellant is the original accused of Sessions Case No. 43 of 2016 and co-accused Maganbhai Gopabhai Sheikh is the original accused of Sessions Case No. 250 of 2016. As both the Sessions cases arose out of the same FIR registered at ATS Police Station I – C. R. No. 04 of 2017, and after the chargesheet against the appellant was filed the co-accused Maganbhai Gopabhai Sheikh was arrested, a supplementary chargesheet was filed and an order to consolidate both the cases was passed below Exh. 10 preferred by the learned APP. The common evidence was recorded in both the cases and the learned Trial Court disposed off both Sessions Case No. 43 of 2016 and Sessions Case No. 250 of 2016 by a common judgment.

1.2 The appellant is referred to as the accused no. 1 as he stood in the judgment for the sake of convenience, clarity and brevity.

2. The brief facts of the case of the prosecution gathered from the record of the case are as under :

2.1 On 29.09.2015, at around 16:50 hours, the complainant PSI – C. R. Jadav received secret information that a person wearing a white jhabba and lengha and with black moustache, beard and long hair is selling fake currency notes which are in his possession and he was to come to the Bavla Sanand Crossroads to the State Bank of India in Akruti Arcade at around 9.00 pm. The complainant took other police officials and called two independent witnesses and drew the preliminary panchama and arranged for a watch at Aakruti Arcade on the Bavla Sanand Crossroads and the accused no. 1 was caught red handed with 102 fake currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each. The necessary panchnamas were drawn and the muddamal was sent to FSL Gandhinagar for analysis. During investigation a colour printer, two fake currency notes and paper for printing the fake currency notes were recovered from a room in the possession of the accused no. 1 situated below Laxmi Narayan Temple at village Sayla. After due investigation the charge-sheets against both the accused were filed before the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Bavla and as the case was exclusively triable by the Sessions Court, Ahmedabad, a committal order was passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Bavla under Section 209 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the cases were registered as Sessions Case No 43 of 2016 and Sessions Case No.250 of 2016 respectively.

2.2 The accused appeared before the learned Trial Court and it was verified whether the provisions of Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was complied with and a charge was framed against the accused no. 1 at Exh. 2 and the statement of the accused was recorded at Exh. 3. The accused denied all the contents of the charge and the evidence of the prosecution was taken on record. The prosecution examined 19 witnesses and produced 27 documentary evidences in support of their case and after the learned APP filed the closing pursis at Exh. 82, the statements of the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were recorded wherein the accused denied all the evidence of the prosecution produced on record. The accused refused to step into the witness box or lead evidence and examine witnesses and after the arguments of the learned APP as well as the learned Advocates for the accused were heard, the learned Trial Court was pleased to find the accused no. 1 guilty for the offence under Sections 489A, 489B, 489C and 489D of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced the accused no. 1 to imprisonment for life and fine of Rs 5000/- (Rupees Five Thousand