- (1.) The instant writ petition has been filed with the following prayer :- "It is, therefore, respectfully prayed that : a. To summon the entire records of the case; b. To issue a writ in the nature of certiorari toquash the framing of charge (respondent no.2); evidence recorded during trial (respondent No.3) and judgment passed by the respondent No.4 in violation of the law as laid down under Article 141 of the Constitution of India and law as laid down by their Lordships of Hon'ble
(2.) Supreme Court and the Hon'ble Punjab & Haryana High Court at Chandigarh in the light of judgment as reported in 1972 AIR(SC) Court 2466. c. To issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the appeal court to drop the illegal proceedings and to follow the law as laid down in Article 141 of Constitution of India and follow the judgments of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India. d. To dispense with the filing of the certifiedcopies of the Annexures attached herewith as Annexure P-3. e. To dispense with the service of advance notice to the respondents. f. Costs of the writ petition may kindly be awarded to the petitioners in the interest of justice. It is further prayed that the illegal continuance of the criminal proceeding before the appellate court against the petitioner may kindly be ordered to be stayed till further orders in the interest of justice."
(3.) The petitioner has faced prosecution before the Special Judicial Magistrate, C.B.I., Punjab, Patiala. The allegations against him were that in a surprise checking conducted at the premises of the Indane LPG Distributorship M/s Rajpura Gas House, Rajpura it was discovered that the petitioner and his other associates, namely, Shri Pawan Kumar, Shri Jasbir Singh, ShriManoj Kumar and some unknown persons had conspired to cause wrongful loss to the IOC Limited by contravening the LPG (Regulation and Supply and Distribution) Order, 1993 issued under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 by fraudulently selling the subsidized cylinders to unauthorised customers. The matter was entrusted to CBI and it was further discovered that the petitioner was the benami owner of such distributorship where Shri Pawan Kumar was being paid a salary of Rs.3,000/- although in the records said Pawan Kumar had been appointed as the distributor of the outlet. The CBI conducted its check on 18.11.1999 along with official of the vigilance cell of IOC. The investigation conducted by the CBI established the case against the petitioner which led to his prosecution and trial wherein the charge was framed against him and conviction recorded.;