The State Of Maharashtra vs Yadu Damu Deore
2017 Latest Caselaw 8174 Bom

                                        1                     APEAL44.2002 & 1

           IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY.
                      BENCH AT AURANGABAD.

                      CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 44 OF 2002 

 The State of Maharashtra,
 through the P.S.I. Dhule,
 Police Station, Dhule.                                      ... Appellant

              VERSUS

 1.  Prakash babulal Bisava,
      Aged 40, R/o. Lane No. 2, Dhule.

 2.  Rajendra Bansilal Gujar,
      (Advocate) aged 28 years,                             Accused.
      R/o. Agra Road, Dhule.                      (Orig. respondent nos. 2 & 3)

                                     ..........
                  Mr P. G. Borade, APP for the appellant/State
                  Mr B. R. Warma, Advocate for respondents
                                    .............

                                  WITH
                      CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 47 OF 2002 

 The State of Maharashtra,
 through the P.S.I. Dhule,
 Police Station, Dhule.
                     ... Appellant

              VERSUS

 Vedu Damu Deore,                                   ...Respondent 
 Aged 22, R/o. Yeshwant Nagar, Dhule.              (Orig. accused no. 1)

                                  ..........
              Mr P. G. Borade, APP for the appellant/State
 Mr V. J. Dixit, Sr. Counsel i/b Mr S. V. Dixit, Adv for respondent No.2
                                 .............

                                            CORAM  : T. V. NALAWADE   &
                                                     A. M. DHAVALE, JJ.




::: Uploaded on - 13/10/2017                         ::: Downloaded on - 14/10/2017 02:52:26 :::
                                          2                       APEAL44.2002 & 1

                                            RESERVED ON       :  09.10.2017.
                                            PRONOUNCED ON : 13.10.2017.


 JUDGMENT (PER A. M. DHAVALE, J.) : 

1. Both these appeals arise out of the common judgment

passed by ld. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dhule in RCC 201/1991 on

31.08.2001, whereby Vedu Deore (A1) was convicted u/s 419 IPC,

205 IPC & 467 IPC and accused nos. 2 & 3 were acquitted. In Cri.

Appeal No. 44/2001, the State seeks conviction of accused nos. 2 and

3 for offences u/s 419, 205, 467 r/w 34 of IPC. In Cri. Appeal No.

47/2002, the State seeks enhancement of sentence of imprisonment

of one month and fine of Rs. 500/-, in default, SI for 15 days for

offence u/s 419 of IPC, SI for one month and fine of Rs. 200/-, in

default, to suffer simple imprisonment for 10 days u/s 205 of IPC and

SI for six months and to pay fine of Rs. 300/-, in default, to suffer SI

for 10 days u/s 467 of IPC.

2. The facts relevant for deciding these appeals may be stated

as under :

On 26.07.1991, the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Court

No. 11, Dhule, PW1-Dilip Bhuyarkar lodged written FIR at City Police

Station, Dhule. In fact it was an order passed in Summary Criminal

3 APEAL44.2002 & 1

Case No. 75/91 which was registered as Crime No. 280/91, u/s 416,

205, 419 r/w 34 of IPC. As per FIR, PW1-Bhuyarkar was conducting

a criminal case under Prevention of Gambling Act against one

Ramesh Tukaram Borse. When he was recording evidence of Police

Constable - Najim Shaikh-PW6, he told that the accused in the

witness box was not Ramesh Borse but his name was Vedu Deore

(A1). Mr Bhuyarkar made inquiry with said accused and he twice

disclosed his name as Ramesh Tukaram Borse with address as Galli

No. 5, Dhule. But later he admitted that his name was Vedu Damu

Deore. That time, accused no. 3 - advocate by name Shri. R. B. Gujar

representing Ramesh Borse was present there and he had earlier filed

Vakalatnama. The evidence recording had begun on that day at 4:30

pm. After the charge was framed u/s 12A of the Bombay Gambling

Act on the same day in presence of advocate R. B. Gujar, the charge

was explained to accused no. 1 - Vedu Deore (A1) and he pleaded

not guilty. He signed the statement of the accused. That time,

advocate R. B. Gujar did not tell the court that he was not accused

Ramesh Tukaram Borse but a different person. When PW1-Bhuyarkar

again made inquiry, the accused No. 1 Vedu present there told that

his employer Prakash Bisava (A2) had told him to appear on behalf of

Ramesh Tukaram Borse. The original accused was absent and Vedu

Damu Deore impersonated himself as accused Ramesh Borse.

4 APEAL44.2002 & 1

3. On the basis of the said FIR, the investigation was carried

out. The statements of material witnesses were recorded. Material

documents were also seized. After completion of investigation, the

charge-sheet was submitted in the court.

4. Ld. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dhule framed charge against

all the three accused persons for offences u/s 419, 205, 467 r/w 34

of IPC at Exh. 12. The accused pleaded not guilty. The prosecution

examined six witnesses namely; JMFC-Bhuyarkar, APP Vilas Kulkarni,

Jr. Clerk and Peon and witness in the box Najim Shaikh. The ld.

Chief Judicial Magistrate on the basis of the evidence held accused

no. 1 guilty and convicted him and sentenced him as referred to

above. Accused nos. 2 and 3 were acquitted. Hence these appeals.

5. Heard ld. APP Shri. Borade for the appellant and learned

advocate Shri. Warma appointed for respondents No. 1 and 2.

6. Learned APP submitted that, there is convincing evidence

of JMFC Bhuyarkar supported by evidence of other material

witnesses to show that accused no. 1 impersonated himself as

Ramesh Borse in another case where he was accused and he was

helped by advocate R. B. Gujar (A3). He was sent by Prakash Bisava

5 APEAL44.2002 & 1

(A2) to impersonate as Ramesh Borse. There is no reason to

disbelieve the ld. JMFC. There is corroborative evidence of APP, Jr.

Clerk, Peon and witness Police Constable - Najim Shaikh.

7. Per contra, ld. advocate Shri. B. R. Warma drew our

attention to the evidence of police constable - Najim Shaikh. His

evidence shows that, accused no. 3 - advocate R. B. Gujar was

initially not present. Earlier the accused Ramesh Tukaram Borse was

present and exemption was sought as he was not keeping good

health. Mr. Warma submitted that, in the light of the facts, there is

no reliable material against accused no. 3 - advocate R. B. Gujar.

Therefore the judgment of acquittal of accused no. 3 - R. B. Gujar

deserves no interference. He also argued that, since offence u/s 205

is specific offence and since there was no intention to cheat anybody,

section 419 will not be attracted. Only offence u/s 205 of IPC

deserves consideration.

8. Learned advocate Mr Warma for accused no. 2 argued that

he was not present on the spot and the ld. Magistrate has acted only

on the basis of statement of accused no. 1. He had not asked accused

no. 1 to impersonate as Ramesh Borse.

6 APEAL44.2002 & 1

9. Though not argued, it is necessary to consider bar u/s 195

of Cr.P.C. in respect of offence u/s 205 of IPC.

10. Hence, the points for our consideration with our findings

thereon are as follows.

  Sr.                          Points                            Findings
  No.
      1   Whether the prosecution on the basis               In the negative.
          of charge-sheet filed by the police is 
          maintainable?

      2   Whether there is sufficient material to            In the affirmative 

show that accused nos. 2 & 3 have against accused nos. 3 committed offence u/s 419, 205, 467 u/s 205/34 of IPC only. of IPC?

      3   Whether   the   sentence   imposed   on                    No.
          accused   no.   1   deserves   to   be 
          enhanced?

      4   What order?                                       The appeals are 
                                                              dismissed.

11. After hearing learned counsel and going through the

record, the prosecution allegation disclosed is that, PW1 Bhuyarkar,

JMFC, was conducting Criminal Case No. SCC 75/91 u/s 12A against

Ramesh Tukaram Borse. On 25.07.1991, when the case was fixed for

recording plea and Ramesh Borse was absent and accused Vedu

Damu Deore attended the court by impersonating himself as Ramesh

7 APEAL44.2002 & 1

Borse, he pleaded not guilty and signed the plea. He was represented

by accused no. 3 advocate R. B. Gujar, who also did not bring this

fact to the notice of the court. Ramesh Borse and Vedu Deore were

the employees of one Prakash Bisava (A2) and he had directed

accused no. 1 to attend the case on behalf of Ramesh Borse. Accused

no. 1 - Vedu Deore initially told the Judge twice that he was Ramesh

Borse, but subsequently admitted that he was Vedu Damu Deore.

When the witness PW6 Shaikh Najim was examined, he stated that

the accused in the witness box was not Ramesh Borse. On inquiry by

the court, the accused in the box admitted that he was Vedu Damu

Deore.

12. PW1-Dilip Bhuyarkar was JMFC, who on disclosure of this

fact, passed a written order, which is treated as FIR and it is at

Exh.21. It seems that, Mr Bhuyarkar was not having summary powers

and instead of conducting SCC No. 75/91 as summons case, he

framed charge and accused Vedu Damu Deore has signed the plea as

Ramesh Borse.

13. Ld. JMFC Bhuyarkar has led evidence as above and has also

stated in the FIR that accused no.1 stated before him that his

employer Prakash Bisava had asked him to attend the case against

Ramesh Borse on his behalf. It is accordingly recorded in the FIR.

8 APEAL44.2002 & 1

14. The above facts disclose a case of false impersonation for

the purpose of act in a criminal prosecution, which is clearly covered

by Section 205 of IPC. Offence u/s 419 is similar offence. There is

additional element of cheating which is defined u/s 415 as follows.

S.415. Cheating. Whoever, by deceiving any person, fraudulently or dishonestly induces the person so deceived to deliver any property to any person, or to consent that any person shall retain any property, or intentionally induces the person so deceived to do or omit to do anything which he would not do or omit if he were not so deceived, and which act or omission causes or is likely to cause damage or harm to that person in body, mind, reputation or property, is said to "cheat".

15. It is apparent that, accused no. 1-Vedu Damu Deore has

impersonated but there was no fraudulent or dishonest intention on

his part so as to deceive the Judge so that he should deliver any

property to any person or to consent for retention of property by any

person. There was intention to do or omit to do something by the

Judge but it was not causing or likely to cause any harm to the Judge

in body, mind, reputation or property. We find that, the act of

accused no. 1 even if accepted at the face value does not disclose all

the ingredients of Section 415 of IPC and therefore provisions of

Section 419 of IPC were clearly not attracted.

9 APEAL44.2002 & 1

16. In this case, charge is also framed u/s 467 in respect of

forgery of valuable security. The allegations that, Vadu Deore has

signed a plea of not guilty. It is not a document which can be called

as valuable security. It does not create any rights in favour of

accused no. 1 Vedu Deore. Section 467 is basically a forgery for the

purpose of acquiring monetary gains or interest in some landed

property. It is not applicable to a case wherein one person has signed

a plea of not guilty in place of another. Therefore, provisions of

Section 467 were also not attracted.

17. However, the alleged act of accused no. 1 amounted to an

offence u/s 205 of IPC.

18. This offence has taken place in connection with a judicial

proceedings. It is a contempt of lawful authority of the Judicial

Magistrate. The ld. Judicial Magistrate has rightly taken action

against Vedu Deore. However, the provisions of Section 195 Cr.P.C.

were not followed. Section 195 of Cr.P.C. reads as follows :

195. Prosecution for contempt of lawful authority of public servants, for offences against public justice and for offences relating to documents given in evidence.-

shall take cognizance-

                                          10                          APEAL44.2002 & 1

           (a)           Not applicable.

(b) (i) of any offence punishable under any of the following sections of the Indian Penal Code,(45 of 1860) namely, sections 193 to 196 (both inclusive), 199, 200, 205 to 211 (both inclusive) and 228, when such offence is alleged to have been committed in, or in relation to, any proceeding in any Court, or

(ii) of any offence described in section 463, or punishable under section 471, section 475 or section 476, of the said Code, when such offence is alleged to have been committed in respect of a document produced or given in evidence in a proceeding in any Court, or

(iii) of any criminal conspiracy to commit, or attempt to commit, or the abetment of, any offence specified in sub-clause (I) or sub-clause (ii), except on the complaint in writing of that Court, or of some other Court to which that Court is subordinate.

2. ..........

19. In Abdul Rehman and others v. K. M. Anees-Ul-Haq

2012 Cri.L.J. 1060 SC, it is held in para 14 as under :

14. ....... Once it is held that bail proceedings amounted to judicial proceedings the same being anterior in point of time to the taking of cognizance by the Metropolitan Magistrate, there is no escape from the conclusion that any offence punishable under Section 211, IPC could be taken cognizance of only at the instance of the Court in relation to whose proceedings the same was committed or who finally dealt with that case.

11 APEAL44.2002 & 1

20. As held in State of Punjab Vs. Rajsingh, AIR 1998 SC

768, though the police could have investigated the offence, they

could not have submitted the charge-sheet and the court could not

have taken cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the police. It was

for Mr Bhuyarkar to personally file the complaint to which the papers

of investigation could have been appended. In view of the bar of

Section 195 of Cr.P.C. the entire prosecution is liable to be quashed.

21. Apart from above facts, we also find that the accused no. 2

Prakash Bisava was prosecuted only on the basis of statement of co-

accused. Though such a statement is admissible u/s 30 of Evidence

Act, it is not a substantive piece of evidence. It can be used only for

the purpose of corroboration. PW1 has stated that, Vedu Deore told

him that Prakash Bisava told him to appear in the court on behalf of

original accused Ramesh Borse. It is capable of two meanings. The

first one is that, Vedu Deore was told to impersonate as Ramesh

Borse and second is that, since Ramesh was unable to attend the

court, he should attend the court on behalf of Ramesh Borse. The

latter part cannot be an offence. The evidence does not show that

Prakash Bisava had told him to sign the papers as Ramesh and attend

the dock of the accused as Ramesh Borse. He was merely asked to

appear in the court on behalf of Ramesh Borse. In that case, Vedu

Deore could have filed an application on behalf of Ramesh Borse that

12 APEAL44.2002 & 1

accused was unable to attend the court and could have sought

adjournment. We, therefore, find that there is no material sufficient

enough to hold accused no. 2-Praiash Bisava for any offence.

22. As far as accused no. 3 - advocate R. B. Gujar is concerned,

PW1-Bhuyarkar has stated that he was present and when evidence of

police constable Shaikh Najim was being recorded and when ld. APP

asked witness to identify the accused, PW6 Najim Shaikh told him

that accused in the box was not Ramesh Borse. That time, PW1

Bhuyarkar suspected identity of accused present in the court and he

started making inquiry. Initially accused no. 1 - Vedu Deore disclosed

his name as Ramesh Borse and after deep inquiry, he disclosed his

true name as Vedu Deore. On the date of incident i.e. 25.07.1991,

PW1 had framed charge against the accused and the statement of the

accused Exh. 24 was recorded. It was signed by Vedu Deore. In

cross-examination, PW1 has admitted that at the start of the

evidence, he was not certain whether accused no. 1 was sitting in the

dock right from the start of evidence. He admitted in cross that,

signature on plea as Ramesh Borse was not made before him. On the

very day, one application for cancellation of warrant was submitted

but the same was not produced. That time, advocate Dilip Pingle was

attending the court. Ramesh Borse had engaged two advocates Dilip

13 APEAL44.2002 & 1

Pingle and R. B. Gujar. They were jointly working for him.

Mr Bhuyarkar could not say whether he had cancelled the warrant

against Ramesh Borse subject to penalty of Rs. 500/-. He denied

that, R. B. Gujar was not present for conducting the case. Evidence

of PW1 clearly shows that, twice Vedu Deore disclosed his name as

Ramesh Tukaram Borse and at that time advocate R. B. Gujar was

present. It was his duty to tell the court that he was not his client but

he was somebody else. Accused no. 3 - R. B. Gujar committed

deliberate omission which could have amounted to an offence

however since no complaint was lodged by Bhuyarkar as per Section

195 of Cr.P.C., the whole proceedings are required to be quashed.

23. The evidence of PW1 Bhuyarkar is supported by APP Vilas

Kulkarni (PW2). He stated that, when name of Ramesh Borse was

called out, advocate R. B. Gujar entered the court hall and plea was

recorded in his presence at 3:45 pm. He stated that advocate R. B.

Gujar had signed such plea which is factually not correct.

24. PW3-Jr. Clerk - Maharu Borse has also stated that, advocate

R. B. Gujar was present when evidence of Najim Shaikh was being

recorded. His cross-examination reveals that, PW4 - A. T. Chaudhary

is a Stenographer. He had typed the charge and the accused had

14 APEAL44.2002 & 1

signed the same in his presence. He had stated that advocate R. B.

Gujar was present at the time of the incident. His evidence that, the

Judge made inquiry with accused is material omission, but even if it

is discarded there is deliberate omission on the part of the accused

no. 3 - R. B. Gujar in not disclosing that the accused in the dock was

not Ramesh Borse. PW5 Peon - Pralhad Vispute has also stated that,

R.B. Gujar was present at the time of incident. similarly, PW6 Police

Constable - Najim Shaikh has also deposed the incident. He has

stated that, advocate for the accused was not present but Shri. Gujar

entered the court hall when his evidence was partly recorded.

25. It is well settled that the evidence of JMFC deserves highest

respect and whatever he has observed as to what happened in the

court hall during the proceedings has conclusive value. Therefore,

the presence of advocate R. B. Gujar at the time of incident cannot be

disputed. PW1 cannot be disbelieved on some stray admission of

other witnesses. However, since Mr Bhuyarkar has not filed

complaint as contemplated u/s 195 of Cr.P.C., the proceeding is

barred. There is no escape to the prosecution on the ground that the

FIR itself was filed by PW1 Bhuyarkar. In some provisions, the court

is permitted to take cognizance either on complaint or on the basis of

charge-sheet, if the FIR is filed by the competent person. No such

15 APEAL44.2002 & 1

provisions is made u/s 195 of Cr.P.C. and therefore cognizance of

offence u/s 205 of IPC taken by the ld. Judge is hit by Section 195 of

Cr.P.C. Hence, the order.

ORDER

(i) Criminal Appeals No. 44/2002 and 47/2002 are dismissed.

(ii) The R&P of the trial Court be sent back to the trial Court.

                  [ A. M. DHAVALE ]                      [ T. V. NALAWADE ] 
                            JUDGE                                     JUDGE

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