ARVIND KUMAR, J: - (1.) This revision is directed against judgment dated 5.7.1990 passed by the Addl. Sessions Judge, Chandigarh upholding the judgment and order of the Judicial Magistrate I Class, Chandigarh, qua accused Ram Sarup Gupta(since deceased) wherein he had been convicted and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for one year and a fine of Rs.200/- each and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo imprisonment for three months in offences under Section 468 and 471 read with Section 120-B IPC.
(2.) In brief, the facts of the case are that a complaint, Exhibit PW- 7/A, was lodged by Randhir Singh, Inspector, Vigilance Bureau,Punjab, with the Police Station, Sector 17, Chandigarh, that from reliable sources he came to know that accused Ram Sarup Gupta, Sub Divisional Engineer, by making wrong entries in the cash books, converted a sum of Rs.1270-50P to his own use and thus, misappropriated Rs.1837-20P to be disbursed to S/Sh. Joga Singh, Joginder Pal Verma and Rajinder Pal Singh by forging their Crl. Rev. No.958 of 1990 2
(3.) signatures. It was reported that accused Ram Sarup Gupta then disbursed Rs.238.50P to Joga Singh and Rs.1157.25P to Joginder Pal Verma while Rs.441.30P to be disbursed to Rajinder Pal Singh were still with him. It was further reported that accused Ram Sarup Gupta had tampered with the cash and log-books and other record in order to misappropriate Rs.72.20P and Rs.32.90P. It was also reported that the said accused had also misappropriated a government alarm watch. On the basis of the complaint of the Inspector Vigilance Bureau, an FIR, Exhibit PW-7/B was registered. During investigation of the case by the police, it came to light that accused Kirpal Singh and Gurbachan Singh, who were posted as Sub Divisional Clerks, with accused Ram Sarup Gupta at the relevant time, and accused Karnail Singh who was working as driver of the jeep allotted to accused Ram Sarup Gupta, were also party to the said cheating. It was also revealed that the accused had tampered with vouchers and cash books with a view to enhance the quantity of the petrol purchased for the jeep for withdrawing the enhanced sum of money from the Government Treasury. Karnail Singh, driver, was declared proclaimed offender. Accused Ram Sarup Gupta, Kirpal Singh and Gurbachan Singh were then charge-sheeted under Sections 409, 468 and 471 read with Section 120-B IPC, to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. In order to bring home guilt to the accused, the prosecution examined as PW-1 Sardul Singh, Superintendent, Land Acquisition Drainage Circle, Patiala, Arjan Singh as PW-2, Shri Krishan as PW-3, Avinash Chander as PW-4, Kulwant Singh as PW-5, Randhir Singh as PW- 6, Budh Parkash as PW-7, B.R.Saini as PW-8, M.M.Chaudhary as PW-9, K.N.Parshad as PW-10, Nanha Ram, SI, as PW-11, ASI Balram as PW-12 and S.R.Bansal as PW-13, and then closed its evidence. Accused in their statements under Section 313 Cr.P.C. pleaded innocence. They, however, did not lead any defence evidence. The learned Judicial Magistrate I Class, Chandigarh, on appreciation of evidence adduced on record, vide judgment and order dated 17.2.1987 acquitted all the accused under Section 409 IPC for the said misappropriation of Rs.1837/- and Rs.51.50P and a clock and acquitted Kirpal Singh of all the charges. However, he convicted accused Ram Sarup Gupta and Gurbachan Singh under Sections 468 and 471 IPC read with Crl. Rev. No.958 of 1990 3;