Delhi District Court
State vs . Gulab Singh on 2 July, 2018
IN THE COURT OF MM08 (CENTRAL DISTRICT)
TIS HAZARI COURTS COMPLEX, DELHI.
Presiding Officer: Dinesh Kumar, DJS.
IN THE MATTER OF :
State Vs. Gulab Singh
FIR No. 24/2010
PS : Hauz Qazi
U/S 336/337, IPC
CNR No. DLLT020021522012
Date of Institution : 16.04.2012
Date of reserving of order : 28.05.2018
Date of Judgment : 02.07.2018
J U D G M E N T
1. Serial No. of the case : 298525/2016
2. Name of the Complainant : SI Haroon Khan
3. Date of incident : 06.05.2010
4. Name of accused person :
Mr. Gulab Singh S/o Chandgi Ram
H. no. D76, Gali no. 1,
Swaroop Nagar, Delhi
5. Offence for which
chargesheet has been filed : S.336/337,IPC
6. Offence for which charge
has been framed : as above
7. Plea of accused : Not guilty
8. Final Order : Acquitted
9. Date of Judgment : 02.07.2018
FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 1 of 12
PS : Hauz Qazi
Pr. : Sh. Santosh Kumar, Ld. APP for the State.
Sh. Arun Chhachhia, Ld. Counsel for accused.
BRIEF REASONS FOR ORDER:
1. Mr. Gulab Singh, the accused herein, has been charged for committing offences punishable under Section 336/337, Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) (hereinafter referred to as "IPC").
2. The case of the prosecution is that on 06.05.2010 at about 11:30 a.m., at Govt. Girls Middle School, Lambi Gali, Hauz Qazi, Delhi, within the jurisdiction of P.S. Hauz Qazi, Delhi, one information was received at the PS vide DD no.16A that about 45 children of the abovementioned School had become ill after eating food. ASI Haroon Khan, the complainant reached at the spot. The children were admitted in the hospital. No eye witness was available. It could be a case of food poisoning.
Therefore, on the basis of the said information, present FIR was registered. During investigation it was found that on the relevant day, the children had taken the food which was provided by "Bal Vikash evam Paryavaran Samrakshan Samstha" under the 'Mid Day Meal' Scheme of the FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 2 of 12 PS : Hauz Qazi Government. The accused was the incharge of the said NGO.
3. After completion of investigation 'final report' was filed by the Investigation Officer (IO) in the Court and the accused was chargesheeted for the offence punishable under Section 336/337, Indian Penal Code.
4. After perusing the record, cognizance was taken by the Court and summons were issued to the accused. Accused appeared in the Court. Compliance of Section 207, Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as 'Cr.P.C.) was done. After hearing the parties, charge for the offence punishable under Section 336/337, IPC was framed against the accused. It was read over to him to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
5. The prosecution has examined as many as 12 witnesses to prove its case against the accused.
6. PW1 Sumaiya is one of the victim. She has deposed that on 06.05.2011, she was a student of Class VI in Girls Middle School, Lambi Gali Hauz Qazi. On that day, mid day meal was served in the school at 11 :30 a.m. by the teacher. After eating the meal, she felt pain in her stomach. She also vomited. All the children complained to FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 3 of 12 PS : Hauz Qazi the Principal. They were taken to JPN Hospital, where they were treated.
7. PW2 Uzma, PW3 Ikra, PW4 Alia, PW8 Saima and PW11 Zeba are also the victims who had complained about food poisoning on the relevant day after eating food in the school. They have also deposed similar to PW1.
8. PW5 Mahavir Singh was the guard in the abovementioned school on the relevant day. He has deposed that on that day he was told by the teachers that students of the school had fallen ill. Principal had admitted the children in hospital. The police had prepared the site plan at his instance, which is Ex. PW5/A. The police had taken the sample of the food and sealed in a pullanda. Utensils were also sealed. The seizure memo is Ex.PW5/B.
9. PW6 Ms. Mahima Gulati is the Vice Principal of the school. She has deposed that the mid day meal was supplied in the school by "Bal Vikas Paryavaran Sansthan"
and the accused used to supply the meal in the school. On 06.05.2010 the meal was served from sealed containers. She had checked the meals i.e., Chole, Aloo and Puri and thereafter meal was served to about 200 children at about 11:00 a.m. At about 11:30 a.m., some students had complained regarding stomach pain and nausea. 29 FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 4 of 12 PS : Hauz Qazi students were taken to the LNJP Hospital, where they were treated.
10. PW7 Archa Kulshestra is the teacher of the school. She has deposed similar to PW6.
11. Ct. Narender Kumar is the police official who had taken the samples of food to the FSL Rohini vide R.C. no. 9/21.
12. PW10 Dr. Arvind Mohan has deposed that on 06.05.2010, he was posted as CMO, Lok Nayak Hospital, where Ms. Mahima Gulati, the Principal had brought 29 students. He had medically examined those students who had complained of food poisoning. He had prepared the MLC which is Ex. PW10/A. The computerized casualty slips of the patients are Mark A1 to Mark A29.
13. PW12 SI Sri Kishan had conducted further investigation in this case. He proved the rukka prepared by ASI Haroon Khan which is Ex.PW12/A. He also proved the seizure memo of photocopy of result of Mid day meal sample which is Ex.PW12/B. He collected the result of food sample from FSL which is MarkX1.
14. All the witnesses were cross examined. The accused had admitted, under Section 294, Cr.P.C. the DD no.16A dated 06.05.2010 copy of which is Ex.A1, and the FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 5 of 12 PS : Hauz Qazi registration of FIR No.24/10, PS : Hauz Qazi, which is Ex. A2.
15. The prosecution evidence was closed. Accused was examined under Section 313, Cr.P.C. r/w Section 281, Cr.P.C. The accused denied the incriminating evidence. He would state that he was falsely implicated and that the food supplied by his NGO was safe for eating. On that day, after preparation of the food, it was supplied in about 80 government schools. In the said school also, the food was supplied for about 230 students as there were 230 students enrolled in the school. On that day, about 200 students had taken the said meal. The complaints were made by only 2030 students. The food was proper. They had not suffered those symptoms due to food quality. There might be some other reasons. The school was situated in the densely populated area. After hearing the news of illness, local people might have created pressure on the principal to file an FIR. Therefore, the present case was registered.
16. The accused did not lead defence evidence. Therefore, matter was fixed for final arguments.
17. Ld. APP for the State would argue that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubts.
FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 6 of 12PS : Hauz Qazi The identity of the accused has been established beyond reasonable doubts. The children had complained after eating the food supplied by the accused. Therefore, it is shown that the food was not proper. Hence the guilt of the accused has been proved. Therefore, it is prayed, the accused may be convicted.
18. Ld. Defence counsel, on the other hand, would argue that the prosecution has failed to prove its case against the accused beyond reasonable doubts. There are various contradictions in the testimonies of the witnesses of the prosecution. The accused has been falsely implicated. There is not even an iota of evidence which indicates towards guilt of the accused. There might be various other reasons for the pain felt by those children on the relevant day. More than 200 students in that school and more than 10,000/ students in different schools of Delhi had eaten the same food supplied by the same NGO on that day. However only 29 students had complained about the stomach pain. These circumstances create doubts on the case of the prosecution. Thus, reasonable doubts have been raised on the story of the prosecution and benefit of doubt may be given to the accused and he may be acquitted.
FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 7 of 12PS : Hauz Qazi
19. I have heard the rival submissions and carefully perused the material available on record. In a criminal case, the burden is on the prosecution to prove its case beyond reasonable doubts before the accused is asked to put his defence.
20. In the present case, the accused has been charged for the offences punishable under Sections 336/337, IPC. Section 336, IPC provides punishment for doing act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others. Section 337, IPC, provides punishment for causing hurt to any person by doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life, or the personal safety of others.
21. In the present case, it has been proved beyond reasonable doubts that on 06.05.2010, some of the children of the Govt. Girls Middle School, Lambi Gali, Hauz Qazi, had complained about vomiting and nausea. PW1, PW2, PW3, PW4, PW8 and PW11 are the children who were student of the said school on the relevant day and who had made such complaints. PW6 Ms. Mahima Gulati, the vice principal of the School and PW7 Ms. Archana Kulshreshth, a teacher of the school have also corroborated the testimonies of the victims. It has also been proved beyond reasonable doubts that total 29 FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 8 of 12 PS : Hauz Qazi students were taken to the LNJP Hospital and they were examined by PW10 Dr. Arvind Mohan in the hospital. All the children were discharged from the hospital after necessary medical aid.
22. Further, in the present case, it has also not been disputed by the accused that the mid day meal was supplied in the School by "Bal Vikash evam Paryaran Samrakshan Samstha" and that he was incharge of supplying food in the said School from the said organization.
23. It has been alleged by the prosecution that the children had become ill due to food poisoning caused by the food supplied by the NGO. It is alleged that the accused did not check the food supplied in the school before it was so supplied. Thus the accused had acted rashly or negligently in a manner as to endanger human life or the personal safety of those children.
24. I have gone through the material on record and the testimonies of the witnesses. No doubt, the witnesses have stated that they had felt the pain and other symptoms after eating mid day meal. However, this fact is not sufficient to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubts.
FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 9 of 12PS : Hauz Qazi
25. The burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubts that the food was stale or not safe for human consumption. Only thereafter it is to be decided that the accused had acted rashly or negligently. In the present case, PW6, Ms. Mahima Gulati is the Vice Principal of the School. She has stated that on the relevant day the food was received in sealed containers in the school. She herself had checked the meal and thereafter it was served to about 200 students. Thus, it is shown on record that the food was received in the school in sealed condition and thus there was no chance of any adulteration by any outsider after it was prepared and sealed at the source.
26. Further, there is nothing on Court record to show, even on the preponderance of probabilities that the food was not properly cooked or it was stale or it was having some poisonous substance or it was not fit for human consumption for any other reasons. No such opinion has come in the MLCs of the children.
27. Some samples of the food served on that day were taken by the IO and they were sent to FSL for forensic examination to detect any abnormality. The FSL has given its report which is MarkX1. The result of examination is as under:
FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 10 of 12PS : Hauz Qazi "On chemical and TLC examination metallic poisons, ethyl and methyl alcohol, cyanide, phosphide, alkaloids, barbiturates, tranquilizers and insecticides could not be detected in exhibits '1A and 1B."
28. Thus, the result of the FSL also does not give any indication that there was some material in the food which was a cause of the alleged food poisoning. It is noteworthy that on the relevant day about 200 children in the said school had taken the mid day meal and only 29 children had complained about pain, vomiting and nausea. There are chances that those 29 children might have food poisoning because of mid day meal served to them. However, it is also equally possible that they might have had those symptoms because of eating something in breakfast or something taken from small shops which are generally found outside schools and sell cheap candies, colas etc. to students. It is settled position of law that wherever there are two views possible, the view which favours the innocence of an accused must be accepted by the Court. An accused can not be convicted on the basis of conjectures and surmises. There must be material on record which indicates only towards the guilt of accused. In the present case, however, there is no such material available.
FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 11 of 12PS : Hauz Qazi
29. In the light of the discussion hereinabove, I hold that the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubts against the accused. There is nothing on record to prove beyond reasonable doubts that the accused had acted rashly or negligently in a manner as to endanger human life or safety of others. The accused is entitled to the benefits of reasonable doubts as per law. Therefore, the accused is acquitted of the charges framed against him.
30. The accused has already furnished bond under Section 437A, with one surety along with photographs and copies of address proof. Digitally signed DINESH by DINESH KUMAR KUMAR Date: 2018.07.02 16:13:11 +0530 Pronounced in the open Court on (Dinesh Kumar) this 02nd day of July 2018. MM08 (Central) Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi.
FIR No. 24/10 State Vs Gulab Singh Page 12 of 12PS : Hauz Qazi