Case: The State Rep.By Cbi, Hyderabad Vs. G.Prem Raj

the respondent-accused was caught and the money was recovered after the demonstration of the Sodium Carbonate solution. The cross-examination of this witness, though lengthy, is perfunctory and serves no purpose. His basic story has remained unshaken. Some insignificant contradictions as to who gave the signal were brought in the evidence of this witness, but those would not affect the otherwise credible evidence of this witness. Therefore, this was a case where the evidence of Preetpal Singh Sodhi (PW-1) was totally corroborated by the evidence of M.N. Sampath Kumar (PW-2) and R.M. Khan (PW-7). All this has been totally lost sight of by the High Court. 12. Much was said about the scooter or the scooter bag not being seized. We do not see as to how that would have helped, once it was proved that the respondent-accused had accepted the money. Merely because it was kept in the scooter by the respondent-accused, in our opinion, was an insignificant circumstance. The fact of the matter is that the money was recovered from the scooter bag. It would have certainly been better had the scooter and scooter bag been seized, however, in our opinion, the non-seizure of the bag and scooter will not affect the prosecution case. 13. Much was made of the evidence of L.N. Das (PW-5). The High Court has gone to the extent of saying that it was at the instance of L.N. Das (PW-5) that the respondent-accused was falsely implicated. We have scanned the evidence of L.N. Das (PW-5) very carefully, but we find nothing in the evidence of this witness to suggest the inference drawn by the High Court. The witness merely gave the background, in which the respondent-accused was asked to get the signatures and he also undoubtedly has said that one B. Ashok Kumar was kept for this work, however, since the respondent-accused was made in charge of the work, the respondent-accused was asked to collect the signatures, so as to get the contract completed. We do not find anything in the evidence or the cross-examination of this witness to suggest that it was at the instance of this witness that the respondent-accused was falsely implicated. The inference drawn by the High Court has absolutely no basis and only suggests that the High Court has read something in his evidence, which was not there at all. Evidence of A.K. Taneja (PW-8) is merely formal and nothing has been addressed to us as regards his evidence. He had given the sanction for prosecution. In fact, no arguments were addressed on the question of sanction. 14. The evidence of the respondent-accused is also perused by us, as much was made by the High Court of that evidence. The High Court, without even discussing the evidence in details, has gone to the extent of saying that the evidence of G. Premraj (respondent-accused & DW-1) has the effect of establishing the defence of the respondent-accused by preponderance of probabilities. The respondent-accused admits here in his evidence that on 27.5.1998, Preetpal Singh Sodhi (PW-1) telephoned him at about 1O clock, asking him to come to Taj Mahal Hotel for signing the agreement. One wonders as to why the respondent-accused chose to accept this suggestion on the part of the Preetpal Singh Sodhi (PW-1) even if it is held to be true. Preetpal Singh Sodhi (PW-1), however, disowns telephoning the respondent-accused. The respondent-accused has raised a theory that when he returned to his scooter for proceeding after the signatures were obtained, Preetpal Singh Sodhi (PW-1) approached him and forcibly thrust the amount in his hands. Now, we fail to follow as to what could prompt Preetpal Singh Sodhi (PW-1) to thrust the money into the hands of the respondent-accused. In our opinion, his evidence was nothing, but a poor attempt to explain the change of colour of the Sodium Carbonate solution after his fingers were dipped in it. Such theory of thrusting the notes cannot be believed at all. 15. The Sessions Judge in this case, after discussing the evidence, has given cogent findings. In Para 17 of his judgment, he asked a right question as to whether the amount was accepted by the respondent-accused or was thrust in the hands of the respondent-accused. He has also addressed himself about the other contentions. He has, after the discussion, chosen to believe the evidence of Preetpal Singh Sodhi (PW-1), M.N. Sampath Kumar (PW-2) and R.M. Khan (PW-7) and has come to the conclusion that the amount was accepted. He has rightly stated that there was a meeting of minds between the respondent-accused and complainant to meet at Taj Mahal Hotel. The Sessions Judge has rightly held that there was no question of anybody having any enmity with the respondent-accused, much less on the part of the complainant and, therefore, there was no reason for these persons to falsely implicate the respondent-accused. As regards the discrepancy in the First Information Report (FIR), the Sessions Judge has rightly attributed this to the failure of memory, as the witness has deposed after 3 years. The Sessions Judge has also noted that the respondent-accused had, at no point of time, complained to anybody that the amount was thrust in his hand. We find that the judgment of the Trial Court was quite reasonable and even without raising the presumption under Section 20 of the Act, the Trial Court had inferred that the respondent-accused had committed offence under Sections 7, 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(d) of the Act. 16. We do not find, in comparison, any reasons, much less, good reasons, having been given by the High Court for its disagreeing with the judgment of the Trial Court. 17. We are quite alive to the fact that unless the judgment of acquittal tends to be perverse or unless the inferences drawn in the acquitting judgment were not at all reasonable, possibly the acquittal should not be upset. However, in this case, as we have already pointed out, there was no scope for recording of finding of acquittal.

Court's decision (1 = petition accepted / positive for appellant, 0 = rejected / negative): 1

Reasoning from the judgment:
1[ds]16. We do not find, in comparison, any reasons, much less, good reasons, having been given by the High Court for its disagreeing with the judgment of the Trial Court17. We are quite alive to the fact that unless the judgment of acquittal tends to be perverse or unless the inferences drawn in the acquitting judgment were not at all reasonable, possibly the acquittal should not be upset. However, in this case, as we have already pointed out, there was no scope for recording of finding of acquittal