Joymalya Bagchi, J. - (1.) Both the appeals are taken up together and disposed of by a common judgment.
(2.) The prosecution case as alleged against the appellants is to the effect that the appellant Amarendra Mohan Mitra @ A.M. Mitra in CRA 232 of 1988 and the appellant Chinmoy Banerjee in CRA 267 of 1988 had been respectively functioning as Assistant Accounts Officer and Assistant Cashier in the office of Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as 'BALCO') in Calcutta during 1978 -79. BALCO had current bank account No. II with the State Bank of India, Chowringhee Branch, Calcutta. As per order of the General Manager, BALCO, a cheque upto Rs. 5,000/ - could be drawn under the individual signature of the Assistant Accounts Officer or Liaison Officer and a cheque above Rs. 5,000/ - and upto Rs. 25,000/ - which was subsequently enhanced to Rs. 50,000/ - was required to be issued under the joint signatures of either two of three officers, namely, Assistant Accounts Officer, Liaison Officer and Assistant Purchase Officer. It is alleged that the appellants entered into criminal conspiracy and by aiding and abetting each other, in furtherance of common intention, had misappropriated a total sum of Rs. 1,55,000/ - between 21.7.1978 and 26.3.1979, after drawing various amounts from the bank account of BALCO, by forging various valuable securities viz. Debit Vouchers, Cheques and falsifying amounts of the company. On 21.7.78 a debit voucher No. BV 224 for Rs. 25,000/ - was prepared by accused No. 2 Chinmoy Banerjee showing payment to be made to Calcutta Port Trust by cheque No. 163018 to 163022 dated 21.7.78. The said voucher was signed by both appellant Chinmoy Banerjee and A.M. Mitra. While the book foil of the said cheques showed payment in the name of Calcutta Port Trust, the bank foils showed "self" as payee. The signatures of both the appellants were found on the reverse side of the cheques to show receipt of payment by them from the bank on 21.7.78. The appellant No. 2 actually received payment of Rs. 25,000/ - against the said five cheques but made false entries in the Cash Book to show the payment made to Calcutta Port Trust. Similarly on 16.3.79, a voucher bearing No. BV 913 for Rs. 30,000/ - was prepared by the appellant No. 2 to show payment of the said sum to be made to Calcutta Port Trust. The said voucher was signed by the appellant No. 1 along with one B.B. Mathur, the then Liaison Officer. Against the said voucher two cheques were prepared by the appellant No. 2 Chinmoy Banerjee. One cheque bearing No. 078154 dated 16.3.79 for Rs. 25,000/ - which was jointly signed by the appellant No. 1 Amarendra Mohan Mitra and the said B.B. Mathur. Originally the cheque was drawn in favour of "yourself", but subsequently under the signature of the appellant No. 1 Amarendra Mohan Mitra alone, the word "your" was struck off to show self in place of "yourself" as the name of the payee. The counter foil i.e. bank foil of the said cheque, however, indicates "yourself" as the name of the payee. The other cheque, namely, Cheque No. 078155 dated 16.3.79 for Rs. 5,000/ - was drawn in favour of "self", whereas the counter foil showed "yourself" as the name of the payee. The cheque was signed by accused No. 1 A.M. Mitra. Accused No. 2 Chinmoy Banerjee signed on the reverse side of the aforesaid two cheques to acknowledge the payment of Rs. 30,000/ - from the bank in cash. He made false entries in the Cash Book to show the payment to Calcutta Port Trust. On 16.3.79 a debit voucher No. VB 923 for Rs. 1,00,000/ - was prepared by the appellant No. 2 Chinmoy Banerjee showing payment to be made to the Collector of Customs by cheque Nos. 078170 and No. 078171. He also prepared two cheques bearing the said numbers and dated 26.3.79 for Rs. 50,000/ - each. Both the appellants signed the voucher and also the cheques which were initially drawn in favour of "yourself". Subsequently the word "your" was deleted under the signature of appellant No. 1 whereas the counter foil of the book foils continued to indicate "yourself" as the name of the payee. The appellant No. 2 Chinmoy Banerjee signed on the reverse side of the aforesaid cheques and collected payment from the bank. He made false entries in the Cash Book to show the payment to the Collector of Customs.
(3.) It was ascertained from the Calcutta Port Trust and the Collector of Customs, Calcutta that they never received any payment from BALCO against the said vouchers, although payment from Bank was collected by the accused persons for the purpose of payment to Calcutta Port Trust and Collector of Customs.;