T.P.S.MANN,J - (1.) THE appellant was triled by Special Judge CBI, Punjab Patiala for offences under Sections 120-B IPC read with Section 420 IPC and Section 471 IPC, besides Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Vide judgment and order dated 3.6.1994, the trial Court convicted the appellant for the said offence. The appellant was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of Rs. 200/- under Section 120-B read with Section 420 IPC. In default of payment of fine, he was directed to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for two months. He was further sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one and a half years and to pay a fine of Rs. 500/- under Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In default of payment of fine, he was directed to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for three months. He was also sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of Rs. 300/- under Section 471 IPC and in default of payment of fine to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for two months. All the sentences was ordered to run concurrently. Hence, the present appeal.
(2.) AS per the case of the prosecution, the appellant was posted as a Manager of New Bank of India in its Sidhwan Dona Branch, District Kapurthala in the year, 1982. He entered into a criminal conspiracy with Ramesh Chander in order to cheat the bank. While abusing his official position as a public servant and in conspiracy with said Ramesh Chander, the appellant sanctioned and disbursed loans amounting to Rs. 5,000/- each in favour of a number of persons. While sanctioning the loans, the appellant relied upon forged and fictitious documents and in each of those cases, Ramesh Chander was shown to be a guarantor. However, as per the procedure for sanctioning the crop loan, the borrower had to approach the bank by furnishing a certificate from the Patwari regarding his land holdings, no dues/no objection certificate from the co- operative Society of his area and an advance copy of the invoice for the purchase of the fertilizer from the dealer. The loanee was also required to provide a sound guarantor. After the receipt of the said documents, the Bank Manager was required to prepare and complete the loan application form, D.P. Note, Credit/Debit voucher, letter of waiver, letter of guarantee and hypothecation of the crop. The signatures of the borrower and in case of illiterate persons, their thumb impressions were to be taken on the loan application form, on the letter of waiver, D.P. Note and hypothecation of crop by the Manager. The letter of guarantee was to be signed by the guarantor. After the completion of the said formalities, the loan was to be sanctioned and Branch Manager was required to issue a pay order in favour of the supplier firm from whom, the fertilizer was to be purchased. The bill issued by the dealer regarding the sale of the fertilizer was to be kept in the bank. The amount of the cash order was to be credited to the account of the firm. Cash payment was not to be made, whereas, the Cashier was to allow the credit to the supplier firm after authentication by the Bank Manager. It was revealed during the investigation that a number of persons, who had applied for and sanctioned the loan, were non-existent, while, the remaining had neither applied for the loan nor received any benefit from the bank. Such persons, who were shown to have obtained the loan, denied that they ever purchased any fertilizer from M/s. Adi Trading Company. Thumb impressions of three such persons were taken which were found to be not tallying by the Forensic Science Laboratory with those appearing on the questioned documents. It was also found that the appellant did not obtain the Patwari certificate and No Objection Certificate as required by the Bank Rules. The amount of the pay orders, instead of being credited to the account of M/s. Adi Trading Company was found to have been paid in cash directly to Ramesh Chander, partner of the said firm.
(3.) AFTER the presentation of challan and framing of charges, to which the appellant pleaded not guilty, the persecution examined Manohar Lal Sharma PW- 1, Milkha Singh PW-2, J.K. Puri PW-3, N.K. Ghai, PW-4, Mangat Singh PW-5, Kundan Singh PW-6, Gulbadan Singh PW-7, Kehar Singh PW-8, Joginder Singh PW-9, Mohinder Singh PW-10, Faquir Singh PW-11, M.S. Saini PW-12, Ramesh Kumar Soni PW-13, Rajinder Shamsher Kohli PW-14, R.K. Jain PW-15, Gurbachan Lal PW-16, Subash Chander PW-17, Gurdial Singh PW-18, Ashwani Kumar PW-19, Nirmal Singh PW-20, Sohan Singh PW-21, Lashkar Singh PW-22, R.C. Sharma PW-23, Sarjan Singh PW-24, Kailash Chander PW-25 and P.S. Nayyar PW-26.;