CR.A/20620/2005 1/14 JUDGMENT IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD CRIMINAL APPEAL No. 206 of 2005 For Approval and Signature: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE H.B.ANTANI ========================================================= 1 Whether Reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment ? 2 To be referred to the Reporter or not ? 3 Whether their Lordships wish to see the fair copy of the judgment ? 4 Whether this case involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the constitution of India, 1950 or any order made thereunder ? 5 Whether it is to be circulated to the civil judge ? ========================================================= MUNNASINGH AVDHESHSING BHUMIHAR - Appellant(s) Versus STATE OF GUJARAT - Opponent(s) ========================================================= Appearance : MR RAMNANDAN SINGH for Appellant(s) : 1, MR PD BHATE APP for Opponent(s) : 1, ========================================================= CORAM : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE H.B.ANTANI Date : /12/2008 CAV JUDGMENT 1. This appeal preferred under Section 394(2) of Criminal Procedure Code is directed against the CR.A/20620/2005 2/14 JUDGMENT judgment rendered by Additional Sessions Judge, 3rd Fast Track Court, Valsad in Sessions Case No.33 of 2004 convicting the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 392 of IPC for 7 years' R.I. and fine of Rs.5,000/- and under Section 397 for 7 years of R.I. and in default S.I. for 1 year. The learned Judge held that the sentence imposed under Section 392 and 397 of IPC shall run concurrently. 2. The Short facts giving rise to the present appeal are as under: 3. The complaint was filed by one Bhupendra Pratapsing Ram Avadhsingh on 16.2.2004 before the Vapi Udhyognagar Police Station wherein it was stated that the absconding accused Santosh Shrinivas had forcibly entered the premises of J.K.T. Fabrics Pvt. Ltd. situated in GIDC, Vapi and looted to the tune of Rs.1,89,000/- which was kept for the payment of salary of employees. When the attempt was made to nab the accused, they fled from scene of offence. However, one of the accused, namely, Munnakumar was nabbed with revolver. On the basis of the complaint filed by Bhpendra Pratapsinh, the investigation was set in motion. The place where the incident took place was visited and the panchnama with regard to the scene of offence was prepared in the presence of panch-witnesses. The muddamal which was seized in the commission of offence was sent to FSL for the purpose of detailed analysis. The accused Santosh Shrinivas was arrested along with present appellant and other accused on the completion of CR.A/20620/2005 3/14 JUDGMENT investigation. The charge-sheet was filed against the accused. The appellant along with other accused were produced before the learned Judge and he in turn committed the case to the Sessions Court by order dated 7.4.2004 passed under Section 209 of Criminal Procedure Code, as the case was exclusively triable by the Sessions Court. The charge against the appellant has been framed vide Exh.5 for the offence punishable under Sections 392 and 397 of IPC as well as under Section 25(1-B)(A), 27(1) of the Arms Act. The appellant pleaded not guilty to the charge levelled against him. Therefore, the matter was set down for full fledge trial before the learned Sessions Judge. 4. The prosecution has examined following witnesses in order to prove involvement of appellant in the commission of offence: (1) PW-1, Subodh Labhshankar Kapadia vide Exh.10. (2) PW-2, Arvindbhai Devchandbhai vide Exh.14. (3) PW-3, Bhpendra Pratapsing Ramavadhsing vide Exh.15. (4) PW-4, Rajeshkumar Srirajkumar Thakor vide Exh.23. (5) PW-5, Devisinh Dolatsinh Chauhan vide Exh.25. 5. The prosecution has produced following documentary evidences, they are as under: (1) Panchnama of the place of incident vide Exh.11. (2) The panchnama of the recovery of the weapon vide Exh.12. (3) The panchanama with regard to the recovery of revolver vide Exh.13. CR.A/20620/2005 4/14 JUDGMENT (4) The complaint given by Bhupendrasinh vide Exh.16. (5) The FSL report vide Exh.26, etc. to the present case. 6. At the conclusion of the trial, further statement of the appellant was recorded under Section 313 of Criminal Procedure Code. The appellant was informed about the incriminating evidence against him. The appellant pleaded before the Court that he was falsely implicated in the commission of offence and false case was foisted on him. 7. The learned Sessions Judge after considering the entire evidence on record of the case held that the appellant along with other accused persons on 16.2.2004 visited the premises of J.K.TFabrics situated in GIDC, Vapi and looted the amount of Rs.1,89,000/- which was kept for the disbursement of salary for the employees. The prosecution on the basis of the evidence adduced by two eye witnesses, namely, PW-3, Bhpendra Pratapsing Ramavadhsing vide Exh.15. PW-4, Rajeshkumar Srirajkumar Thakor vide Exh.23, established the presence of appellant at the factory premises and the manner in which they have looted the amount of salary which was kept for the payment of the staff of the factory. The Police Inspector, Devisinh Chauhan examined vide Exh.25 has deposed in his testimony as to in what manner the investigation was carried out on the strength of the complaint given by Bhupendra Pratapsinh and how the weapons used in the commission of offence were recovered in the presence of panch witnesses. He has CR.A/20620/2005 5/14 JUDGMENT deposed in his testimony about the entire procedure which was followed by him on the receipt of the complaint given by Bhupendra Pratapsinh. Thus, the learned Judge after considering the entire evidence on record of the case held that the appellant has committed the offence punishable under Sections 392 and 397 of the IPC and convicted the appellant for a period of 7 years of R.I. and fine of Rs.5,000/- under Section 392 of the IPC and 7 years of R.I. in default S.I. for 1 year under Section 397. The learned Judge held that evidence adduced by the prosecution gets necessary corroboration from the documentary evidence and thus, the order of conviction was passed by the learned Judge. 8. The learned advocate representing the appellant submitted that prosecution has only examined the five witnesses in order to prove the involvement of appellant in the commission of offence. The deposition adduced by prosecution witnesses do not inspire the confidence of the Court to convict the appellant with the commission of offence punishable under Sections 392 and 397 of the IPC. It is submitted that the recovery panchnama or the discovery panchnama was not prepared by the Investigating Officer so as to establish the recovery of the currency notes worth Rs.1,89,000/- from the premises of the factory and therefore, the prosecution has not successfully established the loot committed by the appellant along with the other accused persons. It is submitted by the learned advocate that the watchman of the factory who was on duty at the material point of time was not examined CR.A/20620/2005 6/14 JUDGMENT by the prosecution in order to prove the guilt of the appellant. This would also raise doubt about the prosecution story about the involvement of appellant in the commission of offence. The learned advocate submitted that Suresh Yadav and Rahul alleged to have caught hold of the appellant from 1 ½ k.m. away from the place of incident have not been examined and this aspect cannot be overlooked by the Court. The learned advocate submitted that material witnesses are not examined by the prosecution and even the documentary evidence is not brought on record by the prosecution in order to complete the entire link connecting the appellant with the commission of offence and therefore, the benefit of same is required to be given to the appellant and he be acquitted forthwith for the offence punishable under Sections 392 and 397 of the IPC. 9. The learned advocate has placed reliance on following judgments, they are as under: (1) In case of Rang Bahadur Singh & Ors. V/s. State of U.P. reported in (2000) 3 SCC 454: The said judgment is cited by the learned advocate in support of the submissions that if the material witnesses are not examined then the it would have adverse effect on the prosecution case and the incongruity would cast doubt on the prosecution case. (2) State of Rajasthan V/s. Netrapal & Ors. reported in (2007) 4 SCC 45 is cited by the learned advocate in support of the submissions that if the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond the CR.A/20620/2005 7/14 JUDGMENT reasonable doubt then in such situation, the benefit of the same is required to be given to the appellant. (3) Umesh Kamat V/s. State of Bihar reported in (2005) 9 SCC 200 is cited by the learned advocate in support of the submissions that if the looted property is not recovered and there is no either corroborating the evidence linking the appellant to the commission of crime then the appellant is entitled to get order of acquittal. (4) Maru Ram V/s. Union of India & Ors. Reported in (1981) 1 SCC 107 is cited by the learned advocate in support of the submissions that when two views are possible one which is in favour of the appellant is required to be taken into consideration. (5) Akhilesh Hajam V/s. State of Bihar reported in 1995 Supp (3) SCC 357 is cited by the learned advocate in support of the submissions that when the conviction is based on circumstantial evidence then the chain of evidence furnished by those circumstances must be so complete as not to leave any reasonable ground for a conclusion consistent with the innocence of the accused. The conclusion of the guilt of the accused should be conclusive in nature. (6) Khalaksing & Ars. V/s. State of M.P. reported in 1992 Cri.L.J. 1150 is cited by the learned advocate in support of the submissions that if there is any delay in sending the muddamal articles to FSL CR.A/20620/2005 8/14 JUDGMENT then the benefit of same is required to be given to the appellant. 10.Thus, considering the ratio laid down in the above mentioned judgments, the learned advocate submitted that the appellant is also required to be given benefit and he be acquitted forthwith in the matter. 11.The learned APP representing the State submitted that prosecution has examined five witnesses. The complainant, Bhupendra Pratapsinh has been examined vide Exh.15. He has narrated in his deposition as to how the appellant along with other accused persons visited the J.K.T. Company on 16th February, 2004 at about 8 O'Clcok at night and looted the amount to the tune of Rs.1,89,000/-. As per his deposition, the appellant was armed with revolver and he gave threat to the other persons who were sitting in the company premises. The deposition adduced by Bhupendra gets necessary support from the deposition adduced by another eye-witness Rajeshkumar Srirajkumar Thakor vide Exh.23. The complaint was given by Bhupendrasinh Pratapsinh and it is produced vide Exh.16 wherein he has reiterated as to in what manner the incident took place and how the employees of the factory were looted by the appellant and other members of the gang. The deposition adduced by these two witnesses gets necessary support from the deposition of the Investigating Officer examined vide Exh.25. The learned APP submitted that over and above, the oral deposition, the prosecution has produced the panchnama of the place of incident vide CR.A/20620/2005 9/14 JUDGMENT Exh.11, the panchnama of the recovery of muddamal articles vide Exh.12, the FSL report vide Exh.27 in order to prove involvement of the appellant in the commission of offence. Thus, as the prosecution has proved the involvement of appellant in the commission of offence beyond reasonable doubt, the appeal filed by the appellant deserves to be dismissed. 12.This Court has heard learned counsel Mr.Ramnandan Singh for the appellant and learned A.P.P. Mr.P.D. Bhate for the respondent-State at length and in great detail. This Court has also undertaken a complete and comprehensive appreciation of all vital features of the case and the entire evidence on record of the case with reference to broad and reasonable probabilities of the case. 13.The charge against the appellant and the other accused persons was framed vide Exh.5 for the offence punishable under Sections 392 and 397 of IPC as well as under Sections 25(1-B)(A) and 27(1) of the Arms Act. The prosecution has, in order to bring home the guilt against the appellant, examined five witnesses and also produced documentary evidence such as Panchnama of the place of incident vide Exh.11, Panchnama of the recovery of Muddamal vide Exh.12, Panchnama of the person of accused vide Exh.13, complaint vide Exh.16, forwarding letter of the F.S.L. vide Exh.26 and detailed report of the F.S.L. vide Exh.27. Out of five witnesses examined by the prosecution, PW-1-Subodh Labhshankar Kapadia vide Exh.10 and PW-2 – Arvindbhai Devchandbhai vide CR.A/20620/2005 10/14 JUDGMENT Exh.14 are the panch-witnesses and they have turned hostile and not supported the prosecution story showing the involvement of the appellant in the commission of offence. PW-3-Bhupendra Pratapsinh was examined vide Exh.15 and he has deposed in his testimony that the incident in question took place on 16.02.2004 at about 8:00 O'clock in the office of J.K.T. Fabrics company. When the said incident took place, he was standing outside the cabin and two persons, namely Rajeshkumar Srirajkumar Thakor and Ramgnesh Chauhan, who were working as supervisor, were present in the cabin. They were having amount of Rs.1,89,000/- in their possession with a view to disburse the salary to the employees of the company. When the salary was disbursed to 8 or 10 employees of the company, four persons, who were armed with revolver and other deadly weapons, entered the chamber and by intimidating them, took possession of the amount which was lying on the table and fled from the scene of offence. When they were leaving the cabin, Bhupendrasinh was standing at the distance of 50 feet from the cabin. When an inquiry was made by him, he was told that four persons had entered the cabin and after administering threat, they took the amount which was lying on the table and fled from the scene of offence. Two persons from the company, Suresh Yadav and Rahul, made an attempt to nab four persons, who had fled from the main gate of the company. He, thereafter, accompanied the manager – Arvindbhai in a car. Out of four persons, who fled, one person was nabbed by Suresh Yadav and Rahul. The person was having revolver and he immediately took the revolver from that person. CR.A/20620/2005 11/14 JUDGMENT Thereafter, the manager informed the police station about the said incident. When P.I. D.D. Chauhan and P.S.I. Rana came to the office of the company, he handed over the revolver which was taken by him from that person, who made an escape from the main gate of the company. He also lodged the complaint about the incident which took place on 16.02.2004. He had also identified the revolver which was taken by him from the appellant during the course of deposition. He has deposed in his testimony that normally, watchman remains on the main gate of the J.K.T. company. When any unknown person enters the company, the watchman would make necessary entry with regard to the same in the register, maintained by the company. The complaint given by Bhupendra Pratapsinh is produced vide Exh.16. Bhupendra Pratapsinh has reported in his complaint about the said incident which took place in the company premises and how the four persons, who entered the cabin, where the employees of the company were sitting for disbursement of the salary to the employees, robbed the amount by giving threat. Rajeshkumar Srirajkumar Thakor vide Exh.23, PW-4 has also supported the version given by Pratapsing Ramavadh vide Exh.15 to the present case. On perusal of the deposition adduced by Rajeshmukar, it becomes clear that the incident in question took place on 16.02.2004. When two persons were sitting in the cabin with a view to disburse the salary to the employees of the company, four unknown persons entered the cabin and after administering threat, took the amount to the tune of Rs.1,89,000/- and fled from the scene of offence. While leaving the CR.A/20620/2005 12/14 JUDGMENT premises, firing was resorted to by one of those persons and, as such, nobody was injured in the said firing. Devisinh Dolutsinh Chauhan PW-5 is examined vide Exh.25, who is the investigating officer, who carried out the investigation on the strength of the complaint given by Bhupendrasing Pratapsinh. He also prepared the panchnama of the place of incident as well as the panchnama with regard to revolver which was used in the commission of offence. The muddamal was sent to F.S.L. for the purpose of detailed analysis. On perusal of the cross-examination, more particularly paragraph 16 of the cross-examination, it becomes clear that he has deposed in a categorical terms that the muddamal revolver as well as cartridge were not recovered from the appellant, but it was produced by the complainant – Bhupendrakumar and he had mentioned in the panchnama that on the say of the complainant, the revolver and cartridge were recovered from the appellant. 14.I have perused the panchnama of the place of incident vide Exh.11, panchnama of recovery of the muddamal article vide Exh.12, panchnama of the person of accused vide Exh.13, complaint vide Exh.16 and the report of F.S.L. vide Exh.27. I have also considered the reasons given by the learned Judge while convicting the appellant for the offence punishable under Sections 392 and 397 of IPC. However, considering the evidence on record of the case, it becomes clear that the watchman who was present at the gate of the company and seen the incident, has not been examined by the prosecution in order to prove involvement of the appellant in CR.A/20620/2005 13/14 JUDGMENT the commission of offence. Suresh Yadav and Rahul, who, as per the prosecution case, caught hold of the appellant from approximately one and a half k.m. away from the company, have not been examined. Even the supervisor of the company, who was on duty at the material point of time, has not been examined by the prosecution in order to establish the entire link connecting the appellant with the commission of offence. It is also surprising that there was no recovery of muddamal currency notes from the appellant. 15.Considering the aforesaid loopholes in the prosecution case, the prosecution, in my considered view, has not established each and every link connecting the appellant with the commission of offence. Even as per my discussion in earlier part of the judgment, the muddamal revolver was handed over by the complainant to the police officer and which was not recovered from the appellant. This also raises doubt about the possession or recovery of the muddamal article from the appellant and even there is no corroborative piece of evidence which, in my view, would connect the appellant with the commission of offence punishable under Sections 392 and 397 of IPC. This lacuna, in my view, is glaring and stares one in the face. Thus, on the basis of the aforesaid oral deposition and documentary evidence on which reliance is placed by the prosecution, it would not be proper to convict the appellant for the commission of offence punishable under Sections 392 and 397 of IPC and, as there are many chinks in the armour of the prosecution case, CR.A/20620/2005 14/14 JUDGMENT the prosecution case is liable to fail. 16.For the foregoing reasons, the appeal preferred by the appellant is allowed. The judgment and order dated 9.11.2004 of conviction passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, 3rd F.T.C., Valsad convicting the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 392 for a period of 7 years R.I. and fine of Rs.5000/- and under Section 397 for a period of 7 years R.I., in default, further S.I. for one year is hereby quashed and set aside. The appellant should be set at liberty, if he is not required to be detained in connection with any other offence. The muddamal articles are to be disposed of in terms of the order passed by the learned Judge. (H.B.ANTANI, J.) A & H