SURENDRA NATH SATPATHY Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a petition for quashing a criminal case pending against the petitioner in the Court of the Sub-divisional Magistrate, Sadar, Baripada.

(2.) THE petitioner is a member of the Orissa Administrative Service and was working as Treasury Officer at Baripada in January 1957. On 4-1-1957, a remittance of Rupees 1,10,000/- in a sealed box was received at Baripada District treasury from Rairangpur Sub-Treasury. The sum was counted by the Treasurer on 5-1-1957, and then kept inside the strong room of the treasury under double lock as a valuable article. The petitioner as Treasury Officer however did not supervise the counting of the cash inside the box, nor did he take steps to transfer the money to the currency chest inside the strong room on that day. For the next few days, the officials of the Treasury were very busy counting other cash in the currency chest for the purpose of transfer to the State Bank of India. The petitioner therefore found time to verify the cash box only on 16-1-1957. On verification he noticed that the cash was short by Rs. 81,400/ -. The lock of the box was also found broken. He then reported the matter to the Collector at whose instance a regular Police case was started and investigation commenced. The police submitted a preliminary charge-sheet on 16-2-1957 against the treasurer Shambhunath Mohanta and two potdars of the Treasury named kulamoni Mohanty and Naba-kishore Mohanty. The petitioner was actually cited as a witness in the preliminary charge-sheet. Subsequently when the final charge-sheet was submitted on 17-4-1957 he was also included as one of the accused persons.

(3.) IT will be useful to refer to some of the rules in the Orissa Treasury Code, volume I, dealing with remittances to district treasuries from other places. Chapter ix of the said Code deals with the subject in great detail, but for the present purpose it will suffice if reference is made to Rules 538, 540, 544, 547, 548 and 549. Rule 538 says that the potdar or clerk accompanying the remittance, should be furnished by the remitting Treasury Officer with a certificate in Form O. T. C. 50 (known as Discharge Certificate) with columns 1 to 8 of the same filled in. It is the duty of the Receiving Officer to fill in columns 9 to 12 and after taking charge of the remittance release the potdar or clerk concerned. The Receiving officer will not discharge the potdar of the remitting Treasury until and unless the remittance has been examined in his office and taken charge of, In fact, column 10 of the certificate requires the number of days employed in the examination to be noted. Rule 540 says that, immediately on the arrival of a remittance credit for the invoiced amount shall be given in the Cash Book or other Register of the receiving treasury, and then the remittance shall be carefully examined. If it consists of coins they should be weighed and if consists of currency notes they should be counted. Rule 544 casts on the Treasurer of the Receiving treasury the primary responsibility for detailed examination of the remittance, which should be made in the presence of the potdar of the remitting treasury so that, if any amount is found short, the responsibility may be fixed. Rule 547 says that the currency notes composing the remittance should be counted in detail, so as to ensure not only that they are genuine but also that each bundle of notes contains the alleged number. Generally, whenever currency notes are kept in a bundle there should be a slip attached to that bundle in Form O. T. C. 8 showing the number of notes, the person who counted them, and the person who examined them. At the time of examination in the receiving treasury these slips of the remitting treasury should be taken out and destroyed in the presence of the Treasury Officer, and fresh slips prepared by the receiving treasury. Rule 548 casts on the Treasury Officer the primary duty of seeing that the slips of the remitting treasury are destroyed. Rule 549 which is a very important rule, may be quoted in full: ''549. The Treasury Officer shall supervise the examination of the remittance generally and see that adequate safeguards have been taken by the Treasurer to avoid, during examination, all mal-practices whether on the part of the accompanying potdars or the examining potdars. He should put away the examined notes and coin under the double locks in the treasury or the currency chest, as the case may be. On completion of the detailed examination he should send a formal report to the remitting officer showing the result of the examination. " the language of this rule is slightly different from the language of Rule 544. The detailed examination of the remittance is required to be done under the direct supervision of the Treasurer whereas the responsibility of the Treasury Officer is limited to general supervision of the examination of the remittance by the treasurer and other subordinate staff. He is also required to see that adequate safeguards are taken by the Treasurer to avoid during examination all mal-practices. He is further required to put away the examined notes and coin under the double lock in the treasury or in the currency chest as the case may be.