Roy, - (1.) THE Judgment of the court was delivered by -
(2.) THERE were six appellants in this case. Three of them were officers of the government of the State of Bihar and others were contractors. All these persons are alleged to have entered into a criminal conspiracy, for committing the offences of criminal breach of trust and cheating, in respect of large amounts of government money earmarked for a Project known as "Mahuadar Development Block Pilot Project". The project was for the welfare of the scheduled tribes under a scheme sponsored by the government of India for a period ending with 1960-61. Mahuadar Block is in Latehar Sub-Division of the District of Palamau. The offences are stated to have taken place between February, 1957 and March, 1958. Among the accused persons, Narendra Kumar Banerjee (also referred to as N. K. Banerjee), was the appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 116 of 1967. He was the Additional Collector of Palamau from November 23, 195 6/09/1957. He then proceeded on leave preparatory to retirement. The appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 118 of 1967 was Barmeshwar Prasad Sinha alias Lallan. He was the Development Head Clerk in the Deputy Commissioner's office at Daltonganj during 91 the relevant period. Harihar Prasad, the appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 115 of 1967, was the Project Executive Officer in his capacity of the Block Development Officer. of Mahuadar throughout the relevant period. One Muhammed Usman Beg, was an overseer, and one Nand Kishore Prasad, was the Assistant Engineer, attached to the Block. Among the contractors was Krishna Lal Sahani who was the appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 117 of 1967, now deceased, whose interests are being looked after by his son under an order of this court, and Banarsi Lal Kohili, the appellant in Criminal Appeal .No. 120 of 1967. There remains the third contractor-appellant Jwala Prasad, whose Appeal No. is Criminal Appeal No. 119 of 1967. Mahuadar is situated in the interior of Palamau-a District in Chhota Nagpur. It is the headquarters of a Block comprising about 106 villages. The headquarters of the District is at Daltonganj situated at a distance of about 64 miles from Mahuadar. In the villages of this Block the population is predominantly "aboriginal (scheduled tribes)". At first a National Extension Service (N. E. S.) Block was established at Mahuadar with a Block Development Officer incharge of it. The sanctioned grant for the Block was Rs. 12 lakhs. In 1956-57 the government of India sponsored a scheme of intensive multi-purpose development for the welfare of scheduled tribes. One of the main objects was to wean away the tribal people from the pursuit of shifting cultivation and to induce and enable them to take to settled cultivation. Pursuant to this scheme the Mahuadar N. E. S. Block was converted into a special multi-purpose Block from January, 1957. In the State of Bihar, eight such special multi-purpose projects were taken up. Under the scheme each Block was to have a schematic budget of Rs. 27 lakhs. This amount of Rs. 27 lakhs was to be allocated to each Block from the very start without limiting the expenditure in the early stages. And the emphasis was laid upon the "effective and expeditious implementation of the programme". The anxiety of the government of India for speedy implementation of the scheme was conveyed to the State Government in correspondence which included the letter, dated 31/12/1956.
(3.) AN outline of the scheme was communicated to the Commissioners of the Divisions and was also received by S.K.Sinha, I.A.S., the Deputy Commissioner of Palamau. He was informed that Rs. 27 lakhs as aforesaid would be available for the entire period of five years. Two Schedules were attached-Schedule I contained a break-up of the schematic budget, Schedule II to the letter contained the details of estimated expenditure during the current financial year) i. e. 1956-57. There were estimates for Mahuadar Block during 1956-57 estimated under different heads. This letter directed that the tentative programme as in Schedule II should be scrutinised by heads of technical departments in the light of. "felt-needs", and in consultation with the Block Development Officer concerned. The District Officer was to, if necessary, make modifications after consulting the Block Advisory Committee. The programme thus finalised was to be forwarded to the Development Commissioner with the comments of the Divisional Commissioners at an early date. In the District and Block levels the following steps were taken. Under the directions of the Deputy Commissioner, Palamau, the appellant Harihar Prasad) Block Development Officer, re-designated Project Executive Officer, prepared an ad hoc schematic programme for Mahuadar for five years. He forwarded this to the Deputy Commissioner. In his covering 92 letter Harihar Prasad indicated that the programme, after approval, may be returned to him for obtaining the approval of the Block Advisory Committee. Copies of the schematic budget, prepared by Harihar Prasad, were sent to the Assistant Development Commissioner, Chhota Nagpur, Ranchi) by the Deputy Commissioner under a forwarding letter in which he stated that he had been informed by the Block Development Officer that the programme had been drawn after discussion with the Assistant Development Commissioner,;