1 2025:CGHC:28991-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR CRA No. 1523 of 2024 Satpati Sahu S/o Mohanlal Sahu Aged About 45 Years R/o -Munekel, Thana- Paikamal, District-Bargarh (Orissa) ... Appellant versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through Police Station- Basna Distt- Mahasamund (C.G.) ... Respondent For Appellant : Mr. Ashok Kumar Varma and Mr. Gajendra Kumar Sahu, Advocates. For Respondent : Mr. Sakib Ahmed, Panel Lawyer Hon’ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon’ble Shri Bibhu Datta Guru, Judge Judgment on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice 30/06/2025 1. The appellant has preferred this appeal under 21(4) of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 (for short, the NIA Act) questioning the impugned judgment dated 27.06.2024 passed by the learned Special Judge (NIA) Bilaspur, in Special Case (NIA) No. 5/2020 by which the appellant has been convicted for the offence punishable under Section 2 489C of the Indian Penal Code and has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years with fine of Rs. 1000/- and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo rigorous imprisonment for one month. 2. The appellant-Satpati Sahu was charged under Sections 489A, 489B, 489C and 489D of the Indian Penal Code that on or before 28.06.2020, at his house in village Munekel, District Bargarh (Orissa), he counterfeited currency notes of Rs. 200-200/- by using colour printer machine, white paper of JK Easy Copier Company and misappropriated the counterfeit notes of Rs. 200-200 knowing them to be counterfeit notes and intentionally kept them in his possession for using them as genuine and kept the said colour printer machine in his possession for counterfeiting fake notes. 3. The case of the prosecution is that on 28.06.2020, Assistant Sub- Inspector Dular Singh Yadav (PW-12) went to village Bhanwarpur Dhanapali for checking the quarantine center and for investigating the crime, along with staff Head Constable 189 Anand Thakur (PW-3) Constable No. 608, 69, 217 in government vehicle No. CG 03-5233. They had received information from an informer that two persons were roaming on a two-wheeler near Basna Bhanwarpur Road, Village Dhanapali to spend fake currency notes. On the said information, witness Mahendra Vaishnav (PW-9) and Rupesh Vaishnav (PW-10) of village Bhanwarpur, Police Station Basna were summoned and made aware of the informer information and notice under Section 160 of the Cr.P.C. (Exhibit P/12 and P/42) was served and informer Panchnama (Exhibit P/ 13) was prepared in presence of the witnesses and the Sub Divisional Officer (Police) Saraipali, and the Station House Officer of Police Station, 3 Basna, thereafter the accompanying staff and the aforesaid witnesses reached village Dhanapali to verify the informer's information and conducted the raid action, and searched for vehicles and persons on the informer's indication. A red colour Bajaj Platina motorcycle without number plate and two persons were found sitting in a grey colour Activa without number plate on Basna road ahead of Village Dhanapali. Upon interrogation, the person riding the Platina bike told his name as Jayant Yadav and the person riding the Activa scooter told his name as Bisikshan Pradhan. 4. On being questioned in presence of witnesses, accused Jayant Yadav had told that about 3-4 months back, the appellant-Satpati Sahu, a resident of village Munekel (Orissa) in connivance with accused Bisikeshan Pradhan had printed fake notes of Rs. 200/- using a printer photocopy machine, and gave fake currency notes of Rs. 7,500/- for circulating the said fake currency notes, and appellant Satpati Sahu had the printer machine for printing the fake notes. Accused Jayant Yadav told that he had Rs. 20,000 of denomination of Rs. 200 with him and Rs. 4,000 in the trunk of the vehicle. Fake notes of Rs. 200/- in denominations totalling Rs. 1,75,000/-, 3 motorcycles, 1 printer, 3 mobile phones worth Rs. 71,000/-, total worth Rs. 2,46,000/- were seized from the possession of accused Jayant Yadav, Bisikshan Pradhan, Pradeep Dhurwa and appellant Satpati Sahu, and a Dehati Nalishi (Exhibit P/46) was registered. 5. Assistant Sub-Inspector Dular Singh Yadav (PW-12) returned to the Police Station and registered the actual crime (Exhibit P/59). He arrested the accused persons vide Exhibit P/36, P/37, P/39 and P/40 and its information was given to their relatives vide Exhibit P/49 and P/59. The 4 seized currency notes were examined sent to the State Bank of India, Basna Branch for examination vide Exhibit P/52. The said Branch advised for getting the notes examined by the Bank Note Press, Devas, Madhya Pradesh, vide Exhibit P/5. Thereafter, the said currency notes were sent to Note Press, Devas, Madhya Pradesh vide Exhibit P/6 and its report is Exhibit P/61. 6. Assistant Sub-Inspector Dular Singh Yadav (PW-12) got the seized printer and 171 pieces of white paper examined at the Forensic Lab, Bilaspur and obtained the report Exhibit P/7. During the investigation he recorded the statements of witnesses Najid Khan (PW-1), Anand Thakur (PW-5) Mahendra (PW-9), Rupesh (PW-10) and Bhuneshwar Vishwkarma (PW-11) and after completion of the investigation, presented the charge sheet against the accused persons before the learned trial Court. 7. As the accused persons namely Pradeep Dhurwa, Bisikeshan Pradhan and Jayant Yadav were not appearing, their trial was separated vide order dated 16.04.2024 and 16.06.2024. 8. The appellant was charged under Sections 489A, 489B, 489C and 489D of the IPC. The appellant abjured the guilt and prayed for trial. 9. In order to bring home the offence, the prosecution examined as many as 12 witnesses namely Nazid Khan (PW-1), Patwari Lal Krishna Devgan (PW-2), Assistant Sub-Inspector Shiv Kumar Prasad (PW-3), Manoj Kumar Patel (PW-5), Head Constable Anand Kumar Thakur (PW-5), Constable Gopal Sahu (PW-6), Constable Kamal Kishore Sahu (PW-7), Inspector Veena Yadav (PW-8), Mahendra Vaishnav (PW-9), Ramesh Vaishnav (PW-10), Head Constable Bhuneshwar Vishwakarma (PW- 5 11), Sub-Inspector D.S.Yadav (PW-12) and exhibited as many as 61 exhibits. The appellant did not examine any witness in his defence nor exhibited any document. 10. The statement of the appellant under Section 313 Cr.P.C. was recorded wherein the appellant/accused expressed ignorance about the circumstances proved by the prosecution and also denied most of the questions and expressed ignorance in respect of some questions. He stated that he was falsely implicated in the case. 11. The learned trial Judge, after considering the evidence on record, convicted the appellant/accused as detailed in the opening paragraph of this judgment. Hence, the present appeal by the appellant/convict. 12. At the outset, Mr. Ashok Kumar Varma, learned counsel for the appellant, who has been engaged by the High Court Legal Aid Committee, vide order dated 01.08.2024, submits that the petitioner was convicted for the offence under Section 489C of the IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years vide order dated 27.06.2024. The appellant was in jail since 28.06.2020 and he had already deposited the fine amount. The appellant has served out his jail sentence and has been released from jail on 09.04.2025 and as such, nothing survives for adjudication in this appeal so far as the sentence part is concerned. 13. Mr. Varma submits further submits that though the appellant has served out his jail sentence, however, the learned trial Court has committed an error by convicting the appellant on the basis of the evidence of the witnesses who are mostly interested witness. The seizure of articles have not been properly proved by the appellant. There is nothing on record to show that the appellant had committed the crime in question. Further, 6 there are contradictions and omissions in the statement of the prosecution witness. Some of the prosecution witnesses have turned hostile and not supported the prosecution case. Hence, the appeal deserves to be allowed. 14. On the other hand, Mr. Sakib Ahmed, learned Panel Lawyer appearing for the respondent/State submits that the prosecution has fully established that it was the appellant who had committed the crime in question. Minor variations in the deposition of the witnesses cannot shake the credibility of the statement of the witnesses. The judgment of conviction and sentence awarded by the learned trial Court being just and proper, needs no interference and the appeal deserves to be dismissed. 15. We have heard learned counsel for the parties, considered their rival submissions made herein-above and went through the records with utmost circumspection. 16. So far as the merits of the case are concerned, on the basis of secret information, the appellant with other co-accused persons were intercepted by the police and from their possession fake currency notes were recovered. Exhibit P/16, P/25 and P/30 are the search panchnama of police personnel / witnesses / vehicles. The deposition of Assistant Sub Inspector, D.S.Yadav (PW-12) makes it amply clear that the appellant took out 450 fake currency notes of denomination of RS. 200/- and each of the currency note had the serial No. 7BV 094006, a colour printer Epson L 360, one Nokia phone, white paper 171 Nos. from his house which were seized vide Exhibit P/34. Dehati Nalishi (Exhibit P/46) was prepared on the spot and after reaching the Police Station, the FIR (Exhibit P/59) was registered. Head Constable Anand Kumar Thakur 7 (PW-5) has deposed that the appellant took out fake currency notes of denomination of Rs. 200 and colour printer from his house which were duly seized. The seized currency notes were got examined by the Bank Note Press, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, and the said Press, vide its report (Exhibit P/61) has opined that the seized notes were fake currency notes. Further, all the currency notes seized from the appellant had same serial number and there was no reason to disbelieve that the said currency notes were not the fake one. The appellant has also not explained as to how he came to be in possession of those currency notes. However, the learned trial Court has rightly arrived at a finding that the prosecution could not prove that the appellant had used the printer for printing those fake currency notes and as such, acquitted him of Sections 489A, 489B, and 489D. 17. The deposition of the Investigating Officer, D.S.Yadav (PW-12), and other accompanying witnesses and the report of the Bank Note Press, Dewas (Exhibit P/61) In the light of aforesaid discussion, we are inclined to endorse the conclusion arrived at by the learned trial Court convicting the appellant on the basis of evidence adduced by the prosecution witnesses. Therefore, conviction of the appellant for the offence under Section 489C of the IPC as well as the sentence imposed upon him by the learned trial Court is well merited and does not call for any interference by this Court. 18. In the present matter, the appellant was lodged in the jail on 28.06.2020 and has been released from jail on 09.04.2025 and as such, has served out his entire jail sentence as awarded by the learned trial Court. The fine amount has also been deposited by the appellant and as such, this Court is of the view that no adjudication is required so far as the sentence part is concerned. 8 19. Accordingly, the appeal being devoid of merit is liable to be and is hereby dismissed. 20. Let a certified copy of this judgment alongwith the original record be transmitted to trial Court concerned forthwith for necessary information and action, if any. Sd/- Sd/- (Bibhu Datta Guru) (Ramesh Sinha) JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE Amit AMIT KUMAR DUBEY Digitally signed by AMIT KUMAR DUBEY Date: 2025.07.04 18:44:50 +0530