Delhi District Court
State vs . Keshav Batham @ Kishan on 11 January, 2018
FIR No.487/15
State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan
Police Station : North Rohini
IN THE COURT OF SHRI DEEPAK GARG:ADDL. SESSIONS JUDGEII
(NORTHWEST): ROHINI COURTS: DELHI
Sessions Case No.52288/16
State
Vs
Keshav Batham @ Kishan
S/o Late Sh. Ganesh Ram Baba
R/o Phase I, Budh Vihar, Delhi
C/O Surender Rathi Ka Makan
FIR No. : 487/15
Police Station : North Rohini
Under Section : 489B/489C/489D IPC
Date of Institution in Sessions Court : 19.09.2015
Date when judgment reserved : 08.12.2017
Date when judgment pronounced : 11.01.2018
JUDGMENT
1. This is the case under section 489B/489C/489D of Indian Penal Code (IPC).
2. Brief facts of the prosecution case are that on 21.06.2015, a secret information was received that a person namely Keshav Batham @ Kishan who was resident of Madhya Pradesh and at Page 1 Of 1 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini that time residing at Budh Vihar, Delhi used to supply the fake currency notes in Delhi and at about 6.007.00 pm he would come in an Indigo Car bearing registration DL3CAY8066 at DTC Bus Depot, Sector 6, Rohini alongwith fake currency notes to supply the same to someone and he also informed that if a raid is conducted, he could be apprehended alongwith fake currency notes. SI K.P.Singh prepared raiding party and deputed Ct. Naveen as a decoy customer by handing over to him two currency notes of Rs. 500/ for purchasing the fake currency notes from Keshav Batham by using the word "Indian" and after receiving the gesture of Ct. Naveen, the accused Keshav Batham was apprehended. Ct. Naveen handed over to the IO 30 notes which were purchased by him from the accused. On search, the accused was found in possession of 120 fake currency notes in the denomination of Rs.100/ and further 150 fake currency notes in the same denomination was recovered from his vehicle bearing no. DL3CAY8066. Accused was arrested. Investigation was carried out. On completion of the investigation, chargesheet was filed in the Court.
3. On compliance of Section 207 Cr.P.C, the chargesheet was committed to this Court by the Court of Ld. MM.
4. Charge under Sections 489B/489C/489D IPC was framed Page 2 Of 2 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini against the accused Keshav Batham by my Ld. Predecessor court on 19/10/2015, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
5. In order to prove its case, the prosecution has examined in total 9 witnesses.
POLICE WITNESSES
6. PW1 HC Jai Bhagwan tendered his examination in chief by way of affidavit, which is ExPW1/A. He has proved the copy of FIR Ext.PW1/B, endorsement on rukka Ex.PW1/C and certificate u/s.65B of Indian Evidence act Ex.PW1/D.
7. PW2 SI K.P. Singh is the first IO of the case. He has deposed that on 21.06.2015, at about 5.15 pm, a secret informer met Ct. Naveen and informed him that a person namely Keshav Batham @ Kishan who was resident of Madhya Pradesh and at that time residing at Budh Vihar, Delhi used to supply the fake currency notes in Delhi and at about 6.007.00 pm he would come in a Indigo Car bearing registration DL3CAY8066 at DTC Bus Depot, Sector 6, Rohini alongwith fake currency notes to supply the same to anyone. Ct. Naveen brought the secret informer before him. He shared this information with SHO Page 3 Of 3 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini concerned. On the instruction of SHO he prepared raiding party including himself, HC Yashbir, HC Hari Kishan, Ct. Sanjay and Ct. Naveen. All the members of raiding party alongwith secret informer reached at the spot at about 5.40 pm. and Ct. Naveen was deputed as a decoy customer. He handed over the two currency notes of Rs. 500/ to Ct. Naveen for purchasing the fake currency notes from accused Keshav Batham. He proved handing over memo as ExPW2/C. At about 6.35 pm, an Indigo car bearing registration no. DL3CAY8066 came from the side of Rohini West Metro Station and stopped on the service road in front of DTC Bus Depot, Sector 6, Rohini. Ct. Naveen met with the person who came there in above said car and talked with the said person. After some time, at the instance of Ct. Naveen, they apprehended the said person. Ct. Naveen informed him that he had purchased 30 fake currency notes of Rs.100/ from the accused by giving him Rs.1,000/ (two currency notes of RS.500/) which were handed over to him by SI K.P. Singh. He handed over the said 30 notes to the IO who found the said notes to be fake. All the said notes were bearing serial number 0FG 601893. Subsequently, from the search of accused, 45 fake currency notes were recovered from the right pocket of his pant and 75 fake currency notes were recovered from the left pocket of his pant. The search of his car resulted in recovery of two bundles of 75 currency notes each. He seized 30 notes which Page 4 Of 4 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini were purchased by Ct. Naveen from the accused vide seizure memo ExPW2/G and the entire remaining fake currency notes were seized vide seizure memo ExPW2/F. The seizure memo of Indigo car has been proved Ex.PW2/H. He prepared the rukka Ex.PW2/J and got the FIR registered.
8. PW3 HC Yashvir Rathi and PW7 Ct. Naveen have deposed in sync with PW2 SI K.P. Singh with whom they remained in the investigation.
9. PW5 HC Hari Kishan and PW6 Ct. Sanjay Sharma have deposed in sync with PW2 SI K.P.Singh till the moment the accused was apprehended and thereafter they left the spot.
10. PW8 SI Rajiv Kumar is the second IO of the case. He has deposed that on 21/6/2015 after receiving information from the duty officer, he along with Ct. Bijender reached at the spot. SI K.P. Singh handed over him the custody of the accused and four envelopes, four jars seizure memo of car and other documents. He proved the site plan ExPW2/K. He recorded disclosure statement of accused ExPW3/D and accused led the police party to his rented accommodation at Budh Vihar Phase I, Delhi and got recovered printing machine/printer make EPSON which was seized vide seizure memo ExPW3/A. Page 5 Of 5 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini
11. PW9 HC Dinesh Kumar is the MHCM. He proved entries no. 876/15 and 877/15 of register no. 19 as ExPW9/A regarding depositing of car, four envelopes, four jars and one printer make EPSON and RC 43/21/15 vide which four envelopes and four jars were sent to FSL for opinion as ExPW9/B. FORENSIC EVIDENCE
12. PW4 Sh. Syed Ahmar Ali Hashmi, Jr. Forensic/ Assistant Chemical Examiner (Documents) FSL, Rohini Delhi had examined the 300 currency notes in question and found that all were counterfeit currency notes. He proved his detailed report as ExPW4/A. STATEMENT OF ACCUSED
13. After completing the prosecution evidence, statement of the accused was recorded under Section 313 Code of Criminal Procedure, in which all the incriminatory facts and circumstances appearing in evidence was put to him, which have been denied by him in toto and he has stated that he has no role to play in the present case in any manner and he has been falsely implicated by the police officials. He was picked up from his Page 6 Of 6 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini house by the police officials and falsely implicated in this case. The alleged notes were planted upon him. He was not carrying any counterfeit currency notes and there was no recovery from his vehicle as alleged. In his defence he has produced one DW Smt. Rajesh.
14. DW1 Smt. Rajesh is the landlady of the accused who had let out ground floor of premises no. F226, Budh Vihar, Phase I, Delhi to him in March, 2015. Her testimony shall be discussed in the later part of the judgment.
ARGUMENTS OF BOTH SIDES
15. I have heard Sh. Rajat Kalra, Ld. Addl. PP for the State and Sh. L.S.Saini, Ld. Counsel for the accused and have perused the material available on record.
16. It is argued by the Ld. Counsel for the defence that the prosecution has miserably failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubts. He has argued as under:
(i) No public witness was involved in the entire proceeding inspite of the fact that the alleged recovery was affected from service road DTC bus depot Sector 6 Rohini, which is a busy public place and it shows that the case is false and no such Page 7 Of 7 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini proceeding took place at the spot.
(ii) There are lot of contradictions in the statement of prosecution witnesses and the same are sufficient to reject the case of the prosecution. The contradictions which have been pointed out are as under:
(a) PW2 SI K.P. Singh has admitted in his cross examination that he left the spot at 8:30 p.m. and if it was so, how could he know that the public was present at the time of arrest of the accused which took place at about 10:15 p.m. by the second IO and hence he is completely unreliable.
(b) there is discrepancy in the statement of prosecution witnesses about the colour of the vehicle of the accused.
PW5 ASI Hari Kishan stated that the colour of the vehicle of accused is green whereas PW7 Ct. Naveen stated that it was of grey colour. Whereas actually the photographs of the vehicle on record shows that it was of silver colour.
(c) PW2 SI K.P. Singh initially said in his cross examination that at the time of raid he was in uniform and other members of the police party were in civil dress whereas in his later cross examination he took a somersault and said that he was also in civil dress
(d) it is also not clear from where the jars were arranged in which the case property was put by the IO at the spot.
Page 8 Of 8 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini PW2 SI K.P. Singh deposed that he had arranged the jars from nearby shops whereas PW3 H C Yashbir stated that the jars were in the IO bag
(iii) There is nothing on record how the secret informer knew about every detail of the accused including his name, address, his occupation of supplying fake currency notes in Delhi, about the registration number of Indigo car of accused, time and place where he would come for supply and also about the code to be used for transacting with the accused and all this is not possible to be known. It only shows that there was no secret informer and rather accused was lifted from his house and fake currency notes were planted upon him and later on the entire story was cooked up by the investigating agency.
(iv) No effort was made by the investigating agency to procure the finger prints on the notes and the car in question and it shows that the investigation was shoddy in nature.
(v) No distinctive mark was put on the currency notes of Rs.500/ handed over to Ct. Naveen, decoy customer and it has not been mentioned in the seizure memo to whom the seal was handed over after use and it falsifies the case.
(vi) No investigation was conducted whether the printing machine/printer seized from the house of the accused was infact capable of printing the said notes and admittedly no computer/lap top was found attached with the said printer and Page 9 Of 9 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini no investigation was conducted by the police from where he had purchased the said printer and there was no special identification mark on the printer and all these things only shows that the case is fabricated and there was no real investigation.
17. Per contra, Ld. Addl. PP for the State has argued that the prosecution has been able to establish its case beyond any shadow of doubt. Reliance is placed on testimonies of all the recovery witnesses. It is contended that having regard to their testimony, whose testimonies are truthful and reliable and are of sterling quality coupled with the other evidence on record in the form of subsequent investigation conducted by the police, the prosecution has been able to prove its case.
FINDINGS OF THE COURT
18. In the present case PW7 Ct. Naveen had received secret information on 21/6/2015 that a person namely Keshav Batham @ Kishan used to supply fake currency notes in Delhi and on that day at about 6:007:00 p.m he would come in an Indigo car at DTC bus depot Sector 6 Rohini along with fake currency notes and if raid is conducted , he could be apprehended along with fake currency notes. Ct. Naveen brought the secret Page 10 Of 10 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini informer before PW2 SI K.P. Singh and informed him about the said information. PW2 SI K.P.Singh informed the SHO PS North Rohini about the said information who directed him to take necessary action.
19. As far as the recovery of fake currency notes from the accused is concerned, the members of the raiding team PW2 SI K.P. Singh, PW3 HC Yashbir and PW7 Ct. Naveen have described the search and seizure proceedings that took place at the spot in detail. It has been proved that in pursuance to the secret information, the members of the raiding party reached at the spot where Ct. Naveen was deputed as a decoy customer and PW2 SI K.P. Singh handed over to him two currency notes in the denomination of Rs.500/ for purchasing the fake currency notes from the accused by using the code word "Indian" and the other members of the raiding party took position near DTC bus depot. At about 6:35 p.m. an Indigo car bearing registration number DL3C AY 8066 stopped on the service road in front of the said bus stop which was driven by the accused Keshav Batham. Ct. Naveen met him and talked with him and after sometime the accused was apprehended by the police party. Ct. Naveen informed the IO that he had purchased 30 fake currency notes of Rs.100/ from the accused by giving him two currency notes of Rs.500/ and Ct. Naveen handed over to the IO those 30 Page 11 Of 11 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini currency notes which on minute checking and comparison with the original notes, were found to be fake. On the cursory search of the accused, two original currency notes of Rs.500/ which were given by Ct. Naveen to him for purchasing the said fake currency notes were recovered. Besides this, 45 fake currency notes and 75 fake currency notes all of Rs.100/ denomination were also recovered from the right and left pocket of his pant respectively. Further, on the search of his car, two bundles of fake currency notes in the denomination of Rs.100/ each having 75 notes, were recovered from the dashboard of his car. The testimony of PW2, PW3 and PW7 is corroborated by PW5 HC Hari Kishan and PW6 Ct. Sanjay who were also part of the raiding party but they left the spot after the apprehension of the accused by the raiding party members.
20. The serial number of the said currency notes recovered from the accused were as follows: all the 30 notes handed over by the accused to Ct. Naveen and 45 notes recovered from his right pocket of his pant were having the serial number 0FG601893; all the 75 notes recovered from the left pocket of his pant were having the serial number 2CS578746; two bundles containing 75 notes each recovered from his car were bearing serial number 9MR859425 and 2CS578746 respectively. It is relevant here to state that all the notes of each bundle were Page 12 Of 12 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini having the same serial number as mentioned above.
21. Two original currency notes of Rs.500/ which were given to accused Keshav Batham for purchasing 30 fake currency notes of Rs.100/ which were recovered from accused Keshav Batham were seized vide seizure memo ExPW2/D. 30 fake currency notes which were purchased by Ct. Naveen from accused Keshav Batham were seized vide seizure memo ExPW2/G. The remaining fake currency notes were seized vide seizure memo ExPW2/F. Two fake currency notes from all the bundles were taken as samples and kept in separate envelopes and they were given serial number S1 to S4. Rest recovered fake currency notes were kept in four separate transparent plastic jars and were given serial number J1 to J4. The sample envelopes and the plastic jars were all sealed with the seal of KPS.
22. The fact that after seizure, the case property was kept in safe custody has been proved by PW9 HC Dinesh Kumar who was working as MHCM PS North Rohini at the relevant time and he deposed that the entire case property was deposited with him in malkhana and the entry to this effect was made in malkhana register and the copy of the same is ExPW9/A and the copy of the RC is ExPW9/B. Page 13 Of 13 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini
23. PW4 Syed Ahmar Ali Hashmi, Junior Forensic/Assistant Chemical Examiner (Documents) FSL Rohini Delhi has proved that all the 300 currency notes in the denomination of Rs.100/ each received in sealed condition with the seal of KPS were carefully and thoroughly examined by scientific instruments and it was found that all the said notes were counterfeit in nature.
24. The testimony of the prosecution witnesses is trustworthy, reliable and believable and nothing has emerged in the cross examination of aforesaid witnesses which can cast doubt on the veracity of the statement or to impeach their creditworthiness.
25. The accused has taken a defence that he was picked up from his house by police officials and falsely implicated in this case and the currency notes in question were planted upon him and he was not carrying any counterfeit currency notes at any point of time and there was no recovery from his vehicle as alleged.
26. In defence, DW1 Smt. Rajesh landlady of the accused has been examined who has deposed that in March, 2015 she had let out ground floor of premises number F226, Budh Vihar, Phase I, Delhi to Keshav Batham and she herself was residing on the first floor of the said premises. She further deposed that on Page 14 Of 14 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini 21/6/2015 at about 12:0012:30 p.m. four persons in civil dress took Keshav Batham with them from the said tenanted premises and when she inquired the reason for his being taken with them, they replied that they were police officials and he would be left after two hours but Keshav Batham did not return back on that day. In the evening at about 7:008:00 p.m the said persons came again and took the vehicle of Keshav Batham with them which was parked outside his house and when she enquired from the said persons, it was replied that the same would be returned after sometime along with Keshav Batham.
27. In my view, the testimony of this witness is not credible and believable. She has not filed copy of any rent agreement showing that accused was the tenant in her premises. She admitted that accused was residing along with his family consisting of his mother, wife and three children but it is surprising that when Keshav Batham was being taken by those persons and when his vehicle was being taken, why his family members did not raise any objection. It is not deposed by DW1 Smt. Rajesh that when Keshav Batham was being taken, his family members had also objected to the said act of those persons. It is strange that instead of family members, landlady has preferred to enter the dock as the defence witness. No complaint was made to police, court or any other authority Page 15 Of 15 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini complaining about the incident in question and it shows that the version of defence is self serving and not credible.
28. The contention of the defence that non joining of public witnesses has made the case of the prosecution doubtful has no merit. In State of Kerala vs. M.M. Mathew 1978 Crl. L.J. 1690, it was held that the police officials have to be presumed to have acted honestly and conscientiously and their evidence cannot be discarded merely on the ground that they are interested in the success of the case. There is no reason why the accused would be falsely implicated by the police officials. It is not the case of the accused persons that the police officials had any grudge against them. We know that public witnesses are disinterested to join such proceedings due to variety of reasons and ordinarily, the public at large show their disinclination to come forward to become witnesses. Hence mere non joining of the public witnesses would not make the case of the prosecution doubtful.
29. Regarding the discrepancies in the statement of prosecution witnesses, it is relevant here to state that they were examined after lapse of many months of the incident. In Bhogin Bhai Birji Bhai vs. State of Gujarat AIR 1983 SC 753 it has been held by Hon'ble Supreme Court that by and large a witness cannot be expected to possess a photographic memory and to Page 16 Of 16 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini recall the details of an incident. It is not as if a video tape is replayed on the mental screen. All the witnesses have broadly supported the case of the prosecution. The discrepancy in the statement of prosecution witnesses about the colour of the vehicle, how jars were arranged, whether PW2 SI K.P. Singh was in uniform and the time of his leaving the spot, will not be sufficient in itself to disbelieve the case of the prosecution as a whole. All the members of the raiding party have identified the accused Keshav Batham in the court and deposed about the recovery of counterfeit currency notes from him.
30. It has been recently held in Madhu @ Madhuranatha and Anr. vs. State of Karnataka AIR 2014 SC 394 that it is a settled legal proposition that while appreciating the evidence of a witness, minor discrepancies on trivial matters which do not affect the core of the case of the prosecution must not prompt the court to reject the evidence in its entirety. Therefore, irrelevant details which do not in any way corrode the credibility of a witness should be ignored. The court has to examine whether evidence read as a whole appears to have a ring of truth. The court is not supposed to give undue importance to omissions, contradictions and discrepancies which do not go to the heart of the matter and shake the basic version of the prosecution witness. In the present case, the discrepancies in the Page 17 Of 17 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini testimony of the prosecution witnesses, pointed out by Ld. Counsel for the defence, do not go to the heart of the matter and shake the basic version of the prosecution case.
31. The extent of detailed information about the accused with the secret informer, in itself, is no ground to see the case of prosecution in suspicion, in view of the reliable testimony of the prosecution witnesses.
32. It is true that the investigating agency did not make any effort to procure the finger print expression on the notes and the car in question but in my view, looking at the circumstances of the case, the same was not required. As far as the argument of defence about not putting any distinctive mark on the currency notes of Rs.500/ allegedly handed over to decoy customer, Ct. Naveen, it is relevant here to state that IO has specifically mentioned in the proceeding that the said two notes of Rs.500/ denomination given to Ct. Naveen were of sl. no. 6FF 027623 and 7TP 076516 hence noting of the serial number of the said currency notes by the IO was sufficient in the circumstances of the case. Even otherwise, it is settled law that lapses or irregularities in investigation would not be material if the evidence produced on record, despite the said lapses or Page 18 Of 18 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini irregularities, does not dislodge the substratum of the prosecution case. It was so held in Sunil Kundu vs. State of Jharkhand 2013 (2013) 4 JCC 4 SCC 422
33. The prosecution has proved the identity of the accused, place of commission of the offence, the manner in which the offence has been committed i.e. his act of selling 30 counterfeit currency notes in the denomination of Rs.100/ each to decoy customer Ct. Naveen knowing or having reason to believe the same to be forged or counterfeit, recovery of 45 counterfeit currency notes from the right pocket of his pant, recovery of 75 counterfeit currency notes from the left pocket of his pant, recovery of two bundles of 75 counterfeit currency notes each from his car and the investigation including the documents prepared etc. There is nothing which could shatter the veracity of the prosecution witnesses or falsify the claim of the prosecution. All the prosecution witnesses have materially supported the prosecution case and the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses do not suffer from any infirmity, inconsistency or contradiction and are consistent and corroborative. The evidence of the prosecution witnesses is natural and trustworthy and the witness of the prosecution have been able to built up a continuous link.
34. In view of my above discussion, I hereby hold that in so far Page 19 Of 19 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini as the charges under Section 489B and 489C IPC against the accused Keshav Batham is concerned, the same stands proved.
35. As far as the offence u/s 489 D IPC is concerned, in my view prosecution has miserably failed to prove the same. As per the case of the prosecution after the arrest of the accused at the spot, he led the police party to his house/rented accommodation from where a printer make EPSON was recovered which was seized vide seizure memo ExPW3/A and it is argued by Ld. Addl. PP for the State that he had printed the said notes which were recovered from his possession from this printer which was recovered from his house. However, it is relevant here to state that there is merit in the contention of Ld. Counsel for the defence that PW8 SI Rajiv Kumar has admitted in his cross examination that no computer /lap top was found attached with the said printer. It is admitted fact that the printer cannot work independently without any computer/lap top or any other device from which instructions can be given to the printer. Further this printer was not sent to FSL to know whether it was really capable of printing the notes which were recovered from the accused at the spot. There is no such evidence on record in this regard. The evidence in this direction leaves must to be desired. Hence, it cannot be said that the said printer could be used for forging or counterfeiting the currency notes or that the Page 20 Of 20 FIR No.487/15 State Vs. Keshav Batham @ Kishan Police Station : North Rohini counterfeit currency notes recovered from his possession were made with the help of this printer. Hence, prosecution has failed to prove the charge of offence u/s 489D of IPC against the accused and so the accused is acquitted of the said charge.
36. In view of the above, the accused Keshav Batham is hereby held guilty for the offence under Section 489B and 489C Indian Penal Code and he is convicted accordingly.
37. Be listed for arguments on sentence on 15/1/2018.
Announced in the open court
th
on this 11 day of January, 2018.
(DEEPAK GARG)
ASJII, NORTH WEST
ROHINI: DELHI
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