Delhi District Court
State vs . Devender Kumar Mittal & Ors. on 12 April, 2016
IN THE COURT OF MS. VANDANA JAIN
ADDITIONAL CHIEF METROPOLITAN MAGISTRATE-02
( CENTRAL ) : DELHI
State Vs. Devender Kumar Mittal & Ors.
FIR No. : 27/95
PS : Lahori Gate
U/s 420/468/471/120B IPC
Date of institution: 15.12.1995
Judgment Reserved on: 07.04.2016
Date of Judgment: 11.04.2016
Unique I. D. No. : 02401R0007311995
JUDGMENT
a) Serial No. of the case CC No. 35/95
b) Date of commission 11.02.1995
of the offence
c) Name of the complainant Om Parkash
d) Name of the accused 1. Deepak Kumar S/o Om Parkash, person, and his parentage R/o 240/33, Naya Paro, Rohtak and address. (Haryana).
2. Dhan Raj S/o Manhor Lal, R/o J 179 Gali No. 12, Kartar Nagar, Delhi.
3. Devinder Kumar Mittal (Abated) S/o Sh. Kishori Lal, R/o H.No. 2664, Gali Jatwara, Naya Bazar, Delhi.
FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 1 of 10
4. Raju Mandal (PO) S/o Sh. Bhata Mandal, R/o Village Bhurkoted PS Davri, District Giridhee (Bihar).
5. Lalit Kumar (Discharged) S/o Ram Chander Sharma, R/o Vasakha Enclave Preetam Pura, Delhi.
e) Offence complained or U/s 420/468/471/120B IPC proved f) Plea of the accused Pleaded not guilty g) The final order Acquitted h) Date of such order 11.04.2016 BRIEF REASONS FOR SUCH DECISION:
1. The brief facts of the case are that on 11/02/1995 at about 4.30 PM, a secret information was received by SI Om Parkash at PS EOW (Crime Cell) that one Devender Kumar Mittal (since expired) alongwith employee Raju Mandal (Proclaimed Offender) having his office at his house bearing no. 2664, Gali Jatwara, Naya Bazar, Delhi is indulged in selling Sales Tax Forms after tampering with the stamp of Sales Tax officer relating to ward no. and is enjoying wrongful gains and the persons who are purchasing the same are also evading Sales Tax by selling those false and forged Sales Tax FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 2 of 10 forms. On the basis of the aforesaid information, raiding team was prepared and Constable Verender Kumar was made decoy witness and Inspector Vinod Kumar was made a shadow witness and after that Constable Virender Kumar was handed over with six currency notes of having denomination of Rs.100/- each. Both Constable Virender Kumar and Inspector Vinod Kumar went at house no. 2664, Gali Jatwara, Naya Bazar, Delhi while other members of the raiding party remained at a considerable distance from spot. After sometime on the signal given by Constable Virender Kumar and Inspector Vinod Kumar, the raiding party reached at the spot at first floor of the house and Constable Virender handed over two Sales Tax Forms (1) ST 02Q410514 and (2) ST 02Q410515 "F" Forms to SI Om Parkash and stated that they were purchased by him from Devender Kumar Mittal for an amount of Rs.600/- and the forms were handed over to him.
2. The same were also taken into possession. Thereafter, accused Devender Kumar Mittal got recovered 13 Sales Tax Forms "C" and "F" forms from under the mattress of the bed at the second FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 3 of 10 floor of the said premises which were also taken into possession by police officials. All forms were seized and on formal search of accused Devender Kumar Mittal, six currency notes of Rs.100/- were recovered from the right side pocket of shirt and rukka was prepared on the basis of which FIR was registered u/s 420/468/471 read with section 120B IPC and section 50 of Delhi Sales Tax Act (DSTA).
3. Investigation was carried out and the chargesheet was filed against the five accused persons namely Devinder Kumar Mittal (Abated), Raju Mandal (PO), Dhan Raj, Lalit Kumar (Discharged) and Deepak Kumar. Accused Lalit Kumar was discharged vide order dated 25.01.2001, accused Devender Kumar Mittal expired during the course of trial, accused Raju Mandal has been declared PO. It is made clear that the present judgment is only qua accused Deepak and Dhan Raj.
4. To prove its case, the prosecution has cited 9 witnesses out of which five witnesses have been examined.
5. PW1 S.C Anand was posted as Sales Tax Officer Ward No. FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 4 of 10 20A of Sales Tax Department and he has deposed with regard to "C" forms recovered from the possession of accused Devender Kumar Mittal.
6. PW2 is retired SI Rohtash Singh is the Duty Officer and he registered the FIR at PS Lahori Gate.
7. PW3 Constable Subhash Chander, who was posted as Sales Tax Officer Ward No. 33 and he has deposed with regard to forms issued (forms which are recovered from the accused persons).
8. PW4 Inspector Vinod Kumar, Shadow witness and the member of the raiding party.
9. PW5 SI Kalu Ram, member of the raiding party.
10. PW6 Sh. M.C Joshi, Deputy Director from CFSL, who proved the FSL report. Thereafter, the prosecution evidence was closed. FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 5 of 10
11. Statement of the accused persons was recorded under Section 313 CrPC wherein both accused persons denied the allegations made against them
12. They did not lead any defence evidence. Accordingly, Defence evidence was closed. Final arguments heard on behalf of accused persons as well as by Ld. APP for the State. Record perused carefully.
13. Ld. Counsel for the accused persons has argued that there is no incriminating evidence against accused persons in the entire evidence and they are entitled to be acquitted. He has also stated that original documents have been produced and the prosecution has failed to prove its case against accused persons.
14. Perusal of testimony of the witnesses and the other material placed on record reveals that the direct evidence in the present case against Devender Kumar Mittal, who had already expired and accused Raju Mandal, who is proclaimed offender. FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 6 of 10
15. As regards accused Deepak, only PW1 S.C Anand, Sales Tax Officer of Ward No. 28 of Sales Tax Department on 25.04.1995 has deposed who has stated that the "C" forms bearing serial no. 11P-414749 to 11P-414758 were issued on 12.01.1995 to one Deepak Kumar, Proprietor of M/s. Shiv Rise Trading Company, 2446, Second Floor, Naya Bazar, holding registration certificate no. LC/30/157240/0492. PW1 further stated that the photocopy of the Registration Certificate and photocopy of form issue sheet were provided to the IO. The further examination of the witness was deferred to produce the original record. However, when the witness was called for further examination, he stated that the record of M/s. Shiv Rise Trading Company was not traceable and the registration of the firm was already cancelled. In the entire testimony, the original registration certificate and the form issue sheet was not produced. It was not proved by the prosecution that accused Deepak Kumar was the Proprietor of M/s. Shiv Rise Trading Company. It is further not proved that the forms as alleged were issued to the aforesaid firm. It is further nowhere stated by any prosecution witness that the said forms/their numbers were made available to the co-accused FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 7 of 10 Devender Kumar Mittal by accused Deepak Kumar. There is no connecting link between deceased accused Devender Kumar Mittal and Deepak Kumar. Since the original documents have not been proved, the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the guilt of accused Deepak Kumar.
16. As regards accused Dhan Raj, PW3 Subhash Chander had deposed that on 02.11.1995, he was posted as Sales Tax Officer, Ward-33, IP Estate, New Delhi. On that dayl he received an application from SI Om Parkash regarding to provide information about F-Forms No. 02 Q410514 to 02 Q410517. After going through the records, it was found that these forms have been issued to Aggarwal Trading Company, 7070, Gali Paharwali, Pahari Dhiraj, Delhi, whose proprietor was accused Dhan Raj S/o Sh. Manohar Lal. The same forms are Ex.PW3/A-1 to Ex.PW3/A-4. I have brought original F-forms issue sheets, photocopy of the same is Ex.PW3/B which bears signatures of accused Dhan Raj alongwith specimen seal of his firm at circles "X", which shows that the abovesaid forms were issued to accused Dhan Raj who is proprietor of Aggarwal FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 8 of 10 Trading Company. I have also brought local registration certificate of Aggarwal Trading Company, proprietor accused Dhan Raj. The same is Ex.PW3/C. The photograph of accused Dhan Raj is affixed on the backside of Ex.PW3/C in Circle X-1. IO recorded his statement.
17. The original "F" forms issue sheet and registration certificate were brought in the court through which "F" forms were allegedly given to accused Dhan Raj, who was proprietor of Aggarwal Trading Company. However, at that time, counsel for the accused was not present and the cross-examination of the witness PW3 was deferred. He was again called for cross-examination in which he stated that he had not brought the record. He also did not produce any register wherein the accused Dhan Raj had allegedly summoned at the time of issuing of Sales Tax forms to him. The counsel for the accused did not get the opportunity to cross-examine the witness from those documents. It is further nowhere stated by any prosecution witness that the said forms/their numbers were made available to the co-accused Devender Kumar Mittal by FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 9 of 10 accused Dhan Raj. There is no connecting link between deceased accused Devender Kumar Mittal and Dhan Raj. Since the original documents have not been proved, the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the guilt of accused Dhan Raj.
18. In view of the backdrop of discussions made above, both accused Deepak Kumar and Dhan Raj are acquitted from the charges framed for the offence under section 420/120-B IPC.
Announced in Open Court (Vandana Jain)
today on 11.04.2016 Additional Chief Metropolitan
Magistrate-02/Central/Delhi
FIR No. 27/95 Page No. 10 of 10