Officer Nic vs Mohamed Haji Latif on 20 December, 2013
In this regard, reference can be
made to judgment, dt. 28-5-2013 of the Hon'ble High Court in Anil
CBI Case No. 31/12 39 of 47
Maheshwari Vs. CBI (Supra). From the evidence brought on record by the
prosecution through various officers/officials of NIC, it is clear that in case of
any marine claim, the survey regarding damage to the consignment, tracing
the consignment and verification of documents was being done by
empanelled surveyors/tracers/verifiers and the officers of the insurance
company were relying upon their reports to process and sanction the claim.
PW2 Sh A.K. Seth during his cross examination stated they had not
specifically pointed out in Ex. PW1/A that M.L. Mathur or Y.P. Babbar did
commit any specific irregularity or dereliction of duty. PW3 Sh A.K. Tiwari
during his cross examination stated that they did not find any dereliction of
duty or violation of the conduct or rules of practice in passing of claim by Sh
Moti Lal Mathur and Yash Pal Babbar by and large. He further stated that
there has been no violation of any rule or procedure in issuance of Policy No.
4500297 to Kochhar Trading Company. It is well settled that negligence/
dereliction in the performance of duty is different from dishonest act done in
the performance of duty. To prove a dishonest or fraudulent act, prosecution
has to lead some positive evidence.