- (1.) All these appeals arise out of a common judgment of the Designated Judge at Ajmer, Rajasthan, made in TADA Special Case No. 8 of 1992. In the said case, the appellants herein along with some other accused were charged by the Deputy Superintending of Police, CBI/SIC.II, New Delhi for offences under Ss. 3(3) and 6 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as 'the TADA Act'), S. 120-B, I.P.C.; and Ss. 5 and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act and Ss. 9-B and 9-C of the Explosives Act. After trial the Designated Court held the appellants guilty of offences punishable under S. 120-B, I.P.C., Sections 3(3) and 6(1) of the TADA, S. 5 of the Explosive Substances Act read with S. 120-B of the I.P.C. and S. 6 of the Explosive Substances Act. Learned Judge also held A-5 guilty of offences punishable under Ss. 9-B(i)(b) and 9-C of the Explosive Act. Based on the said conviction, he imposed a sentence of 5 years' R.I. with a fine of Rs. 1,000 on each count, on these appellants, and in default in the payment of fine, to undergo a further RI for 6 months on each count, on each of them. He also sentenced the appellants for offences punishable under Ss. 3(3) and 6(1) of the TADA and imposed a sentence of 5 years' R.I. with a fine of Rs. 1,000 on each of them, in default to undergo RI for 6 months. He further sentenced the appellants for an offence punishable under S. 5 of the Explosive Substances Act read with S. 120-B, I.P.C., and S. 6 of the Explosive Substances Act and imposed a sentence of 5 years' RI with a fine of Rs. 500/- on each count on each of them; in default to undergo RI for 3 months. Nextly, he held A-5 guilty of offences punishable under Ss. 9-B(i)(b) and 9-C of the Explosives Act, 1884 and sentenced him to undergo RI for 2 years with a fine of Rs. 500/-; in default to undergo further RI for 3 months. He directed all the substantive sentences to run concurrently.
(2.) Prosecution case involving these appellants, stated briefly, is as follows : On 20-12-1990, a Police party headed by Sukhpal Singh, P.W. 9, Inspector, Narcotics Control Bureau, Bhilwara (Rajasthan) intercepted Truck No. PAT 1933 at Octroi Post No. 2, Bhilwara at about 10.30 a.m. The truck was loaded with bananas and there were 3 occupants in the truck. They were Beant Singh, A-7; Jagjeet Singh, A-8; and Sulakshan Singh, A-9. On a search of the truck, P.W. 9 and his party found 1.25 kg. of opium and one briefcase containing 8 bundles of detonators. Said P.W. 9 sent a written report to SHO, PS Sadar, Bhilwara, who along with his staff reached the spot and conducted further search of the said truck. Said SHO, Satya Narayan, P.W. 12 found one "ENCOR" briefcase which had 8 bundles of electric detonators, and hidden with the load of bananas, he also found 13 cartons of gelatine and 2 bags of calcium ammonia nitrate. On each carton "Noble Explochem Ltd. 595/2, Giripet, Nagpur, Noble Brand Class III, Division-I, CAT.ZZ" was written in English. On opening the cartons, the officers found 200 gelatines in each of the carton. On questioning the three occupants of the said truck, namely, A-7 to A-9, told the Investigating Officers that they had no licence to possess these explosives. Thus on the ground that these accused persons had committed an offence under S. 9-B of the Explosives Act, Ss. 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act and S. 286 of the I.P.C., they were arrested. The Investigating Officer, P.W. 12, took out the samples of gelatine from each carton and electric detonators from each bundle, as also 1 kg. of Calcium Ammonia Nitrate from each of the bags which were seized, for the purpose of chemical examination. A case under Ss. 8/18 of the N.D.P.S. Act was also registered against the said 3 accused persons for possessing 1.25 kg. of opium. The Investigating Officer also seized the truck and registered an FIR against these accused persons. It is seen from the records that during the course of investigation, S. 6 of the TADA was also invoked as against these accused.
(3.) The Ministry of Personnel, Govt. of India, under a Notification dated 1-2-1991 and after obtaining the consent of the State of Rajasthan handed over the investigation to the CBI which continued the further investigation. Based on the information received by the CBI and on further investigation, it was found that in the month of June, 1990, Madha Singh, A-10 along with Sukhwant Singh A-4, Kulwant Singh A-3, Gyani Pratap Singh A-1 and Didar Singh A-2 had entered into a criminal conspiracy to procure explosives from Maharashtra and to transport the same to Punjab to indulge in terrorist activities. On further investigation, based on this information, it was found that Beant Singh A-7, Jagjit Singh A-8 and Sulakshan Singh A-9, the persons who were found in the truck seized earlier, along with Ismail Bhai A-6, Jameel Ahmed A-5, Dinesh Kumar A-11 and A. Srinivas A-12 had also joined in the said conspiracy. Further case of the prosecution is that in the months of May-June, 1990, A-1 summoned A-2 in the presence of A-10 and asked A-2 to arrange 2 cartons of gelatine and 100 detonators which A-2 arranged and supplied the same to A-1, A-4 and A-10 at Dunlop Hotel, Latoor Road, Nanded.;