1973 INSC 0368
                                                     Budh Singh

                                                           Vs

                                                  State of Haryana

                                        Criminal Appeal No. 148 of 1970

                                       (M. H. Beg, Y. V. Chandrachud JJ)

                                                      22.11.1973

                                                     JUDGMENT

BEG, J. -

1. The appellant Budh Singh, who was the Manager of the Rural Co-operative Bank Ltd., Niwaz
Nagar, in Maharashtra, from 1962-64, was acquitted of charges under Sections 409 and 477-A,
Indian Penal Code, by the learned Additional Sessions' Judge, Sangrur. On an appeal against his
acquittal, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, by means of a very through and careful judgment,
set aside the acquittal. It convicted him under Section 409, I.P.C., and sentenced him to one year's
rigorous imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 3,000/- and, in default of payment of fine, to
undergo three months further rigorous imprisonment. It also convicted him under Section 477-A,
I.P.C., and sentenced him to six months rigorous imprisonment. The sentences were directed to run
concurrently. A direction was also given that, out of the fine recovered, a sum of Rs. 2,856,29 will
be paid to the Bank.

2. It appears that large sums of money were deposited by Gram Panchayats in the Co-operative
Bank after grants made to the Panchayats by the State Government of construction of tanks. The
Panchayats were unable to obtain the required payments from the Bank. Therefore, they complained
to the Block Development and Panchayat Officer, who visited the Bank on August 24, 1963 and
examined its account books. He found that the Bank did not have enough funds to make the required
payments. Immediately thereafter, the appellant contrived to make false entries in the account books
of the Bank, so as to show repayments of loans by a number of depositors. No less than seven of
these depositors had come forward and deposed, against their own interests, that they had made no
such repayments. Their evidence had been rightly believed by the High Court which observed that,
but for these fictitious entries, the Bank would have not been able to show payments of Rs. 11,200/-
and Rs. 10,000 to the Sarpanches Pooran Chand, P.W. 10 and Ramji Lal, P.W. 13, through Raj
Kumar Mehta, P.W. 14, the Chairman of the Bank. The Sarpanches as well as the Chairman of the
Bank deposed that no such payments were made. The High Court had, for very good reasons given
by it, believed the testimony of the Sarpanches and Raj Kumar Mehta. It believed the statements of
the Sarpanches that their signatures were signing applications for fertilizers. The evidence against
the appellant was overwhelming. We, therefore, think that the High Court had rightly set aside the
acquittal and found both the charges duly proved against the appellant. The sentences awarded were
also quite proper.

3. Consequently, after having heard and duly considered all that the learned Counsel for the
appellant could say in such a case, we dismiss the appeal.
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