EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Mar 16: Justice Sanjay Dhar of J&K High Court dismissed the appeal filed by SVO now ACB against the acquittal of Assistant Information Officer (AIO) LEH in alleged purchase scam.
While dismissing the appeal, Justice Sanjay Dhar observed that the view taken by the learned trial court in the impugned judgment appears to be plausible in the light of the evidence on record and the findings recorded by the said court do not appear to be manifestly erroneous or contrary to evidence on record. In these circumstances, it is not open to this Court in exercise of its appellate jurisdiction to interfere with the judgment of acquittal recorded by the learned trial court.
For the foregoing reasons, Court found that there is no merit in this appeal. The judgment of acquittal recorded by the learned trial court is, therefore, upheld and the appeal is dismissed.
As per the contents of the charge sheet, the accused/respondent No.1 during his posting as Assistant Director, Information, Leh, entered into a criminal conspiracy with accused/respondent No.2, where-under a Panasonic fax machine was purchased for an amount of Rs 62,000 and a Canon Xerox machine was purchased for an amount of Rs 1,25,000 by accused/respondent No.1 for the office use from accused/respondent No.2. According to the prosecution case, the accused/respondent No.1 paid only a sum of Rs 1,25,000 to the accused/respondent No.2 which constituted Rs 13,000 over and above the market price of both machines taken together as were supplied by him. It was further alleged that the accused/respondent No.1 retained an amount of Rs 62,000 with himself and misappropriated the same. The prosecution further alleged that the aforesaid purchases were made without following the codal formalities and/or seeking administrative approval from the competent authority.
It is alleged that the aforesaid lapses came to the notice of the Auditors of the Accountant General's office and the same was brought to the notice of the Commissioner/Secretary to the Government, Information Department in terms of communication No.OAD/EAP/ 1212-15 dated 09.12.1996. An enquiry was conducted by District Treasury Officer, Leh, who submitted his report and on the basis of the said report, the Director, Information, referred the matter to Vigilance Commissioner, where-after a case came to be registered, investigation was conducted and finally challan was laid before the trial court. JNF |
