Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2024 Supreme(HP) 249

IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH, SHIMLA
Vivek Singh Thakur, Sandeep Sharma, JJ.
State of H.P. - Appellant
Vs.
C.R.Premi @ Chape Ram & others - Respondents
Cr. Appeal No.609 of 2000 a/w Cr. Appeal Nos. 267 and 268 of 2020, Cr. Appeal No.111 to 115 of 2021 and Cr. Appeal No.581 of 2023
Decided On : 11-01-2024

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellants :Mr. Rajesh Mandhotra, Additional Advocate General.
For the Respondents:Mr. Ajay Kochhar, Senior Advocate with Mr. Ravi Tanta and Mr. Varun Chauhan, Adv.

Insufficient evidence to establish criminal conspiracy and illicit felling of trees led to acquittal, upholding the presumption of innocence for accused parties.

Headnote:(A) Indian Penal Code - Sections 379, 411, 420, 467, 468, 471, 218, 167 - Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 - Section 5(2) - Indian Forest Act, 1927 - Sections 41, 42 - Challenge to acquittal in corruption and illegal felling of trees from government land - Trial court acquitted the accused due to insufficient evidence establishing guilt; concluded that prosecution failed to prove conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt. (Paras 18-64)

(B) Acquittal - Burden of proof - The prosecution failed to produce credible evidence establishing criminal conspiracy or illicit tree felling; the presumption of innocence must prevail. (Paras 60-65)

Facts of the case:
The appeals by the State concern the acquittals of various accused related to the alleged illegal felling of trees from government forest land, with accusations of conspiracy and corruption involving multiple law enforcement and forestry officials. The trial court found insufficient proof of the conspiracy or the execution of illicit activities, leading to the acquittals. (Paras 1-14)

Findings of Court:
The judgments of acquittal were based on meticulous analysis of the prosecution's evidence, which was deemed contradictory and unreliable regarding the accusations of conspiracy and corruption, leading the court to affirm the trial court's conclusions. (Paras 63-64)

Issues: The main issues addressed included the credibility of witnesses, the sufficiency of evidence for proving criminal conspiracy, and the legal standards for establishing such offenses under the relevant statutes. (Paras 18-22)

Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that mere allegations or procedural discrepancies do not substantiate a charge of conspiracy. Without credible evidence establishing an agreement to commit an illegal act, the accused must be acquitted. The trial court's conclusions were upheld as they adhered to legal standards for evaluating the evidence. (Paras 58-64)

Result: Appeals dismissed.

Table of Content
1. comprehensive factual background of the case. (Para 1 , 2 , 3)
2. allegations of illegal activities and conspiracies by the accused. (Para 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9)
3. judicial proceedings and remands pertaining to the case. (Para 10 , 11 , 12)
4. arguments presented by the appellant state against the acquittal. (Para 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20)
5. defense's arguments supporting the acquittal. (Para 21 , 22 , 23)
6. court's observation emphasizes requirement for corroborative evidence in fraud cases. (Para 24 , 25)
7. court's examination of evidence and witness testimonies. (Para 30 , 31 , 32)
8. legal standards and requirements to establish conspiracy. (Para 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44)
9. the significance of credence in witness testimony. (Para 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55)
10. conclusion reached by the court based on evidence. (Para 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63)
11. final verdict confirms trial court's decision of acquittal. (Para 64)

JUDGMENT :

Sandeep Sharma, J.

Above captioned Criminal appeals, lay challenge to judgments dated 11.4.2000, 31.07.2019 and 01.08.2019 passed by learned Special Judge(Forests) Shimla, Himachal Pradesh in Corruption case No.34-S/7 of 88/86, Session Trial RBT Nos. 40-S/7 of 1988/86, 35-S/7 of 1988/86, 36-S/7 of 1988/86, 37-S/7 of 1988/86, 38-S/7 of 1988/86, 39-S/7 of 1988/86, 41-S/7 of 1988/86 and 42-S/7 of 1988/86, respectively, whereby all the respondents (hereinafter referred to as the accused), came to be acquitted of the charges framed against them under Sections 379 , 411, 420, 467, 468, 471, 218, 167 of IPC, Sections 41 , 42 of Indian FOREST ACT , Section 5 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947 and Section 12 of H.P. Forest Produce (Regulation of Trade) Act, 1982 read with Section 12 0-B of IPC.

2. Though, nine number of FIRs, in total, were registered against the accused and separate trials were conducted in all the FIRs, but since facts leading to lodging of FIR are common in all the cases, as detailed hereinabove’ and same were decided on the basis of one set of evidence in terms of order dated 24.08.1987 passed in Cr. Appeal No.40/1987, which was further upheld by Hon'ble Apex Court in SLP, this Court after having clubbed all the appeals, heard the same together and now are being disposed of vide common judgment.

3. Before giving separate table of each FIRs, facts which are common in all the FIR’s are being taken note hereinbelow:-

4. Case of the prosecution initiated against the accused is based upon secret information received by Sh. Prem Prakash Sethi, SI/SHO, police Station, Enforcement, South Zone, Shimla, wherein he disclosed that Kewal Ram Sharma, R/o Mandhochali, Pargana Shili, Tehsil Chopal had purchased 166 trees in Chak Koti, Shila Block in Forest Division, Chopal from local Zamindars and further sold the same to M/s Mishru Mal, R/o Pandrara in the year, 1982. Above named person disclosed to the police that Kewal Ram Sharma in connivance with Forest and Revenue Officials conducted wrong demarcations and marked 158 trees of Kail and 1 tree of Rai in government forest to give peculiar advantage to contractors and thereby caused loss to the tune of Rs. 2, 45, 692/- to the State of Himachal Pradesh. After receipt of aforesaid secret information, investigating agency got the private areas in which the trees were shown to have been marked, demarcated from Revenue Official namely, Sh. Chandermani to ascertain the correctness of demarcation allegedly given by Parmanand (Kanungo) while marking the trees. After obtaining the record from D.F.O, Chopal and other records of Revenue Department, demarcation was also got conducted in Chak Koti, Shila Block, which disclosed that only 7 trees were felled from the private land and 159 trees were found illicitly felled from the government land. In the aforesaid background, a case under Sections 379 , 411, 420, 467, 468, 471 read with Section 120-B IPC, 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and Section 33 , 41 and 42 of Indian FO