- (1.) B. K. Sharma, J. This is a revision against the judgment and order dated 10. 11. 1983 passed by Sri. M. S. Premi, the then Special Judge, Jhansi in Special Case No. 1 of 1982, State v. Rakesh Kumar and others convicting the accused-revisionists for the offence under Sections 3/7 of the Essential Commodities Act for violation of Clause-3 of the U. P. Foodgrains Dealers (Licensing and Restriction on Hoarding) Order, 1976 and sentencing each one of them to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of 3 months each.
(2.) HEARD the learned counsel for the parties. The prosecution case was that on 7. 9. 1982 the then S. O. Powayan Sri. C. K. Mishra (PW-1) alongwith Jagmohan Upadhyay S. I. and Ram Pratap constable who were on patrol duty on Powayan Nigohi Road, noticed that two trucks were going on the Nigohi Road from the side of Nawabpur Ganga Market, out of which, the first truck was USR (sic) 7111 in which the accused revisionists were boarded 106 bags of of wheat and 15 bags of paddy were loaded, that the truck was being driven by driver Ram Autar (PW 2), that the truch was stopped and the accused -revisionists were called upon to produce their licence as dealer but they railed to show any licence, that the driver told him that the accused-revisionists had told him that they had licence of sale and purchase and that they had purchased the foodgrains from Nawabpur Ganga Market and were taking it to Shahjahanpur, that the S. O. prepared the recovery memo at the spot at 4. 15 a. m. and then took the truck to the police station alongwith the accused persons and on the basis of the recovery memo a check report was prepared and a case under Section 3/7 of the Essential Commodities Act was registered After submission of the charge-sheet, cognizance was taken by the Special Judge and the charges were framed against the accused-revisionists.
(3.) AT the trial the prosecution ex amined S. O. , C. K. Mishra as PW-1 and Ram Avtar driver as PW-2. C. K. Mishra testified to intercepting the truck carrying 106 bags of wheat and 15 bags of paddy and the failure of the accused-revisionists to show dealership licence. He further tes tified that the driver told him that his truck was loaded from Nawabpur Ganga Market for Saharanpur and that the accused revisionists were claiming that they were having dealership licence, that the ac cused revisionists, however, did not claim having any such licence of dealing in the foodgrains. Ram Avtar PW-2, the driver of the truck testified that the accused revisionists had told him that they had licence for dealing in the foodgrains, that this grain was loaded in the truck from Nawabpur Ganga Market for being car ried to Shahjahanpur. In his cross-ex amination, he stated that the foodgrains were purchased by the accused persons from that market in his presence. In their statements under Section 313, Cr. P. C. , the accused- revisionists ad mitted that arrest and the seizure of the foodgrains, but they claimed that the seized grain was the produce of their agricultural land. They examined Hardwari Lal as DW-1. He testified that the accused -revisionists never purchased any grain from the Nawabpur Ganga Market, that he was Thekedar and owner of Nawabpur Ganga Bazar, that there is no other Bazar held in lhat village, that the accused-revisionists had never purchase any grain from the said Bazar. He also testified that the accused-revisionists were cultivator. The accused- revisionists also filed certain extracts of revenue papers to show the existence of their agricultural land.;