THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE B.SESHASAYANA REDDY Criminal Appeal No.314 of 2010 (Dated 25-02-2010) Between: The State of A.P., rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of A.P., Hyderabad. …Appellant A n d Bhupathi Sukesh @ Ravi and two others …Respondents/ Accused THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE B.SESHASAYANA REDDY Criminal Appeal No.314 of 2010 JUDGMENT: State has filed this Criminal Appeal under Section 378(1) and (3) Cr.P.C assailing the judgment dated 23.7.2007 passed in S.C.No.439 of 2005 on the file of the Assistant Sessions Judge, Tanuku, whereby and whereunder, the learned Assistant Sessions Judge found A-1 not guilty for the offences under Sections 489 (A), 489(B), 489(C), 489(D) and 489(E) of IPC and A-2 Chadalawada Anil and A-3 Janapareddy Ramanjaneyulu not guilty for the offences under Sections 489(B) and 489(C) of IPC and acquitted them accordingly. 2. The prosecution case, in brief, is:- PW-4 A.Sudhakara Reddy, Inspector of Police, Tanuku received credible information regarding movement of persons possessing certain fake currency notes at Venkaiah canal. He accompanied by Pw-2 G.V.S.S.Bhujangarao Chowdary and Pw-3 N.Murali Krishna proceeded to Venkaiah Canal and apprehended A-3 Ramanjuneyulu. He seized Rs.5,500/- worth fake currency notes of rupees fifty denomination in different serials. Out of the currency notes seized from the possession of A-3, he chose currency notes from each of the series for being sent to F.S.L. He returned to Tanuku P.S and instructed Pw-3 to register a case. Thereupon, Pw-3 registered a case in Crime No.95 of 2005 and issued Ex.P-4-F.I.R. After registering the case, Pw-4 accompanied by panch witness, who has been examined as Pw-2, and A-3 proceeded to the house of A-2 Chadalawada Anil and seized Rs.10,000/- worth fake currency notes of rupees one hundred denomination. He chose 20 notes and put the currency notes in a sealed cover for being sent to F.S.L for examination. From there, he went to the house of A-1 Bhupathi Sukesh @ Ravi and seized fake currency notes worth of Rs.14,900/- of rupees hundred denomination. He collected 25 currency notes of Rs.100/- denomination and sealed the currency notes for being sent to F.S.L. Pw-2-G.V.S.S.Bhujangarao Chowdary acted as a mediator for seizure of the currency notes from A-1 to A-3. M.O-1 is the bundle of currency notes seized from the possession of A- 3. M.O-2 is the bundle of currency notes seized from the possession of A-2 and M.O-3 is the bundle of currency notes seized from the possession of A-1. M.Os. 4 to 11 are seized from the house of A-1. After receipt of report from the F.S.L opining that all the currency notes are counterfeit currency notes, Pw-4 laid charge sheet before the II Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, Tanuku. The learned Magistrate took the charge sheet on file as P.R.C.No.37 of 2005 and committed the case to the Sessions Division, West Godavari District at Eluru. The learned Sessions Judge took the case on file as S.C.No.439 of 2005 and made over the same to the Assistant Sessions Judge, Tanuku for disposal according to law. The learned Assistant Sessions Judge, on hearing the prosecution and the accused, framed charges under Sections 489(B) and 489(C) IPC against A-1 to A-3 and 489(A), 489(D) and 489 (E) IPC against A-1. The learned Assistant Sessions Judge read over and explained the charges to the accused, for which the accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. 3. To bring home the guilt of the accused for the offences with which they stood charged, prosecution examined 5 witnesses as Pws.1 to 5 and marked 5 documents as Exs.P-1 to P-5 and exhibited 11 material objects as M.Os.1 to 11. The plea of the accused is one of total denial of the case. The learned Assistant Sessions Judge, on appreciation of the evidence on brought on record and on hearing the prosecution and the accused, found the accused not guilty for the offences with which they stood charged and acquitted them accordingly, by judgment dated 23.7.2007. 4. Heard the learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the appellant-State and Sri C.Praveen Kumar, learned counsel appearing for the respondents-accused Nos.1 and 3 and Sri K.Jyothi Prasad, learned counsel appearing for the 2nd respondent-accused, and perused the judgment impugned in the appeal. 5. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the appellant-State submits that Pw-4 is a responsible police officer and he has no motive to foist a case against respondents- accused. He further submits that Pw-4 has no ill-will against the respondents-accused and in which case, his testimony with regard to seizure of M.Os 1 to 3-fake currency notes, cannot be doubted and when once seizure of M.Os 1 to 3 currency notes is proved, it is for the respondents-accused to come forward with an explanation as to how they came into possession of the fake currency notes. He would also submit that the trial Court has thoroughly misread the evidence brought on record, and thereby, erred in recording acquittal of the respondents-accused for the offences with which they stood charged. 6. Learned counsel appearing for the respondents-accused submits that none of the prosecution witnesses asserted that M.Os 1 to 3 are seized from the possession of A-1 to A-3 and in which case, judgment of acquittal of accused for the offences under Sections 489(A), 489(B), 489(C), 489(D) and 489(E) IPC does not warrant interference. 7. The Supreme Court has, time and again, dealt with the scope of exercise of power by the appellate Court against judgment of acquittal under Section 378 Cr.P.C. It has been repeatedly held that if two views are possible, the appellate Court should not ordinarily interfere with the judgment of acquittal. The Supreme Court has laid down that the appellate court shall not reverse a judgment of acquittal because another view is possible to be taken. It is not necessary to multiply the decisions on the subject and reference to a later decision of the Supreme Court in Ghurey Lal v. State of U.P [(2008) 10 SCC 450] shall suffice wherein the Supreme Court considered a long line of cases and held thus: “69. The following principles emerge from the cases above: 1. The appellate Court may review the evidence in appeals against acquittal under Sections 378 and 386 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. Its power of reviewing evidence is wide and the appellate Court can re-appreciate the entire evidence on record. It can review the trial Court’s conclusion with respect to both facts and law. 2. The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The accused possessed this presumption when he was before the trial Court. The trial Court’s acquittal bolsters the presumption that he is innocent. 3. Due or proper weight and consideration must be given to the trial Court’s decision. This is especially true when a witness’ credibility is at issue. It is not enough for the High Court to take a different view of the evidence. There must also be substantial and compelling reasons for holding that the trial Court was wrong. 70. In the light of the above, the High Court and other appellate courts should follow the well-settled principles crystallised by number of judgments if it is going to overrule or otherwise disturb the trial Court’s acquittal: 1. The appellate Court may only overrule or otherwise disturb the trial Court’s acquittal if it has `very substantial and compelling reasons’ for doing so. A number of instances arise in which the appellate court would have `very substantial and compelling reasons’ to discard the trial court’s decision. `Very substantial and compelling reasons’ exist when: (i) The trial Court’s conclusion with regard to the facts is palpably wrong; (ii) The trial Court’s decision was based on an erroneous view of law; (iii) The trial Court’s judgment is likely to result in `grave miscarriage of justice’; (iv) The trial Court’s judgment was manifestly unjust and unreasonable; (v) The trial Court has ignored the evidence or misread the material evidence or has ignored material documents like dying declarations/report of the ballistic expert, etc., (vi) This list is intended to be illustrative, not exhaustive. 2. The appellate Court must always give proper weight and consideration to the findings of the trial Court. 3. If two reasonable views can be reached--- one that leads to acquittal, the other to conviction— the High Courts/appellate Courts must rule in favour of the accused”. 8. It is the case of the prosecution that the accused are found in possession of M.Os.1 to 3-fake currency notes. More precisely, A-3 was found in possession of M.O-1 currency notes, A-2 was found in M.O-2 currency notes and A-1 was found in possession of M.O-3 currency notes. Pw-4 is the Inspector of Police who seized M.Os 1 to 3 currency notes from the possession of A-1 to A-3. He failed to identify the accused correctly and gave different versions at different stages with regard to the identity of the accused. The trial Court, pointed out the inconsistencies in the evidence of Pw-4 in paragraph 11 of the judgment impugned in the appeal, which reads as hereunder:- “ Pw-4 also did not correctly identify the accused in the Court. He gave different versions at different stages with regard to the identity of each accused. His evidence is that at the canal bund they caught Ramanjuneyulu but at another stage he stated that he proceeded to Pydiparru along with his staff and A-1, where A-2 was arrested. His evidence is that they went to the house of A-2 and brought A-2 and A-3 to the Police Station. His evidence is further to the effect that along with Anil, they proceeded to Vijayawada and arrested A-3. According to Ex.P-1 report, and the evidence of other witnesses, the said Ramanjuneyulu arrested at Canal bund is A-3. At another stage of his evidence, Pw-4 stated that he kept A-3 and left to Vijayawada along with A-2 to arrest A-3. As stated earlier, it is A-3 who was said to have been arrested at Canal bund. The evidence of Pw-4 is further to the effect that A-2 lead them to Vijayawada to the house of Ravi at Singhnagar and he arrested A-3 at 11.00 P.M. The evidence of other witnesses and the mediators report are to the effect that it is A-1 who was arrested at Vijayawada”. 9. The trial Court, after analyzing the evidence brought on record, came to the conclusion that there is no consistency in the evidence of Pw-4 with regard to the identity of the accused. I do not see any reason to disturb the findings recorded by the trial Court on this aspect. Pws. 1 to 3 did not identify the accused in Court. Therefore, it cannot be said with certainty that M.Os. 1 to 3 currency notes were seized from the possession of the respondents-accused. Once the prosecution failed to prove the seizure of M.Os 1 to 3 from the possession of the accused, the charges levelled against the accused stands disproved. The appreciation of the evidence brought on record by the trial Court cannot be said to be perverse warranting interference of this Court in exercise of powers under Section 378 Cr.P.C. 10. Hence, this Criminal Appeal does not warrant admission and accordingly, the same is hereby dismissed at the admission stage. _____________________ B.SESHASAYANA REDDY, J Dt.25-02-2010 RAR THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE B.SESHASAYANA REDDY Criminal Appeal No.314 of 2010 (Dated 25-02-2010)