Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Aug 29 High Court has upheld acquittal of various officials of PHE and PWD (R&B) Department who were accused of submitting forged CDRs which were cleared by the Central Co-operative Bank Ltd.
Justice M A Chowdhary dismissed almost 12 appeals filed by the prosecution-state in a common judgment and upheld the judgment of the trial court whereby all the officials were acquitted on account of lack of evidence by the prosecution.
The issue involved in all the twelve appeals was with regard to alleged forgery of CDRs by an official of the Central Co-operative Bank Ltd. Bijbehara Anantnag, used by the contractors for production of the same along-with the tender documents for allotment of various development works undertaken by the Engineering Departments.
“On a cumulative analysis of the evidence brought on record by the prosecution and on consideration of rival submissions made by the counsel for the parties, it is found that there is no sufficient and cogent evidence to record conviction of the respondent-officials. The trial court had correctly recorded that the CDRs in question though bear similarity/conformity with the CDRs seized in the parent case, as such, by no stretch of imagination, guilt can be fastened upon any of the respondent-officials in the instant case particularly in the absence of examination of handwriting expert”, Justice Chowdhary recorded.
The Court said the judgments under challenge in all the appeals, seems to have been passed assigning sufficient and good reasons and this Court does not find any occasion to interfere with the well reasoned judgment passed by the trial court.
Court has opined on the facts as well as on law and concluded that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against the accused beyond any reasonable doubt, as such, the trial court has rightly acquitted the respondents-accused giving them the benefit of doubt.
The facts of the case in all the appeals is that one Ghulam Mustafa Wani the then General Manager of Central Cooperative Bank Ltd Anantnag, found two forged and fictitious CDRs (Cash Deposit Receipts) pledged in favour of the Superintending Engineer PHE Khanabal, having been cleared by the said authority, when they were presented before Central Co-operative Bank Ltd. Branch Bijbehara and it was alleged that besides these two forged CDRs, 21 such like CDRs had been seized from the office of Technical Officer to Chief Engineer PWD (R&B) Kashmir, which on their verification from CC Bank Branch Bijbehara were found forged and having not been issued by the Bank but were found to have been forged by someone deceitfully and under a deep conspiracy.
During the investigation of the case and on verification, the CDRs bearing Nos. 30031 and 30032 were found to be forged and fictitious, and besides this, during the course of investigation, 15 more CDRs were seized, which upon verification were also found fake and fictitious and Out of these 15 CDRs, one had been seized from PHE Khanabal and the other 14 CDRs had been seized from the office of Chief Engineer R&B.
Justice Chowdhary said that the prosecution had, though, examined the prosecution witnesses and also placed on record documentary evidence, however, there being no oral direct incriminating evidence against any of the accused as such the prosecution cannot be said to have proved its case before the trial court.
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