TMI Blog1975 (8) TMI 147X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... his provision was punishable under Section 7 of that Act. The prosecution case was that on the night between 13th and 14th November 1966, Head Constable Ram Singh and four other police constables, viz., Kishan Singh, Fateh Singh, Hira Lal and Sunder Singh, all attached to police station Sawar, were on patrolling duty in the area of the 10 mile belt with a view to preventing smuggling of grains from Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh. They were at a place about 5 or 6 furlongs away from the border on the way leading from Village Bilothi in Rajasthan to Village Nagla Khoobi in Uttar Pradesh when at about 5 a.m. in the morning of 14th November 1966 they noticed that a cart driven by the buffaloes was coming from, the side of Bilothi and proceeding in the direction of Nagla Khoobi. The cart was loaded with six bags of gram weighing about 14 to 15 maunds. One Ram Raj was driving the cart while the appellant was sitting in the cart on the bags of gram. Head Constable Ram Singh and his companions stopped the cart and checked it and on finding that it carried six bags of gram, Head Constable Ram Singh asked the appellant to produce the permit for transport but the appellant could not produce any s ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... out 6 or 7 p.m. on 13-11-1966. Ram Raj was driving the cart and he was sitting in the cart on the bags of gram. When the appellant and Ram Raj had proceeded about 3 or 4 furlongs on the way to Santrook, Head Constable Ram Singh and his companions stopped them and checked the cart. The appellant showed the permit to Head Constable Ram Singh but the latter ignored it saying that it had no value and asked the appellant to settle their 'Hisab Kitab', i.e. to pay them some money by way of bribe. The appellant refused to pay any bribe, Head Constable Ram Singh and his companions thereupon arrested the appellant and Ram Raj and snatched away from the appellant a bundle of currency notes of ₹ 510 which was found on his person on taking search. Two persons by the name of Ramji Lal and Om Prakash had arrived on the scene by that time and they witnessed this incident. Two other persons of Bilothi who were going to Bharatpur also happened to come there and they too saw this incident. The appellant and Ram Raj were then taken to the police station and according to them, all the memos Exhibits P-1 to P-4 were prepared at the police station. The appellant and Rain Raj submitted that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Court. We may first refer to a rather disturbing feature of this case. It is indeed such an unusual feature that it is quite surprising that it should have escaped the notice of the trial Court and the High Court. Herd Constable Ram Singh was the person to whom the offer of bribe was alleged to have been made a by the appellant and he was the informant or complainant who lodged the first information Report for taking action against the appellant. It is difficult to understand how in these circumstances Head Constable Ram Singh could undertake investigation of the case. How could the complainant himself be the investigator? In fact, Head Constable Ram Sing., being an officer below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, was not authorised to investigate the case but we do not attach any importance to that fact, as that may not affect the validity of the conviction. The infirmity which we are pointing out is not an infirmity arising from investigation by an officer not authorised to do so, but an infirmity arising from investigation by a Head Constable who was himself the person to whom the bribe was alleged to have been offered and who lodged the first information Report as inf ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... res were not obtained on the seizure memo. They were important respectable witnesses wholly unconnected with the appellant and if the bundle of currency notes of ₹ 510 was seized in the manner alleged by the prosecution, they could have furnished the most credible piece of evidence. Moreover it may be noticed that the seizure memo in connection with the bundle of currency notes of ₹ 510 does not state the circumstances in which it came to be siezed. There is no reference to the conversation which is supposed to have taken place between the appellant and Head Constable Ram Singh in connection with the offer of bribe. The whole episode seems to be shrouded in secrecy and there is nothing but the evidence of police constables to support it. How can such an episode be believed? Cart it be said to be free from reasonable doubt? 7. There is also inherent improbability in the story of offer of bribe by the appellant to Head Constable Ram Singh. In the first place, the appellant had a permit dated 28.10.66 Ex. D-1, for transport of 20 quintals of gram from Bharatpur to Santrook. The permit was valid for a period of 15 days from the date of issue, i.e., from 28.10.66. It expi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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