# RAJENDRA KUMAR CHATURVEDI v. THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

- **Citation:** [1974] 3 S.C.R. 847
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1974-04-04
- **Case number:** CRIMINAL APPEi.LATE JurusmcnoN : Criminal Appeal No. 200 of 1970
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/rajendra-kumar-chaturvedi-v-the-state-of-maharashtra-6093
- **Pages:** 5

## Headnote

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RAJENDRA KUMAR CHATURVEDI
v.
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
April 4, 1974
IM. H. BEG AND R. S. SARKARIN, JJ .]
SH
Practice-:-Criminal P1'octdllre-Dismissal of appeal b)' High Court sumr.1a. U_v-D11f)• tn Rh•e a r~tucned onler.
lbc Soeciat JudJe, after a very thorough. and careful assessment of the whole
evidence ·in the cue. had come to the conclusion that the prosecution case
apimt the appelluit was established beyond reasonable doubt and convicted
him· under sections 1208 as well as 161 read with s. 34 l.P.C. and also under
se:tions S(l)(d) and 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. The
High Court dismisaed the ~ppellant's appeal
summarily without
giving
any
reasons.
DismissinR the apeal to this Court,
HELD : ( t) It is necessary for the High Courts, even when they dismiss
criminal -3Rpeals summarily on facts found, to record the reason'i briefly.
It
is often difficult in a criminal case to say whether any material error was
committed by the trial court in arriving at its findings of fact without atleast
some e;xamination and consideration of the main features of the evidence- which
only a reasoned order would disclose. [85 I E-G]
(2) An examination of the evidence by this Court, because ·of such summary
dismissal, ho~ver, sho\VS that the findings of the trial court must be up-held.
it must be deemed that the High Court had affirmed the findings of the trial .
Co~rt when it dismissed the appeal summarily, and therefore, there is no reason
·to depart from the general rule that this Court will .not interfere with concurrent findings of fact except under very exceptional circumstances. [851 D-El
B. c. Go.swanii ·V • . Del/ii Administration, followed.
CRIMINAL APPEi.LATE JurusmcnoN : Criminal Appeal No. 200
of 1970.
·
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated the
13th October, 1970 of the Bombay High Court at Bombay in CrimiF
nal Appeal No. 1112 of 1970.
G
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S. N. Misra and M. V. Goswami, for the appellant.
M. C. Bhandare and S. P. Nayer, for the respondent.

## Text

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RAJENDRA KUMAR CHATURVEDI
v.
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
April 4, 1974
IM. H. BEG AND R. S. SARKARIN, JJ .]
SH
Practice-:-Criminal P1'octdllre-Dismissal of appeal b)' High Court sumr.1a. U_v-D11f)• tn Rh•e a r~tucned onler.
lbc Soeciat JudJe, after a very thorough. and careful assessment of the whole
evidence ·in the cue. had come to the conclusion that the prosecution case
apimt the appelluit was established beyond reasonable doubt and convicted
him· under sections 1208 as well as 161 read with s. 34 l.P.C. and also under
se:tions S(l)(d) and 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. The
High Court dismisaed the ~ppellant's appeal
summarily without
giving
any
reasons.
DismissinR the apeal to this Court,
HELD : ( t) It is necessary for the High Courts, even when they dismiss
criminal -3Rpeals summarily on facts found, to record the reason'i briefly.
It
is often difficult in a criminal case to say whether any material error was
committed by the trial court in arriving at its findings of fact without atleast
some e;xamination and consideration of the main features of the evidence- which
only a reasoned order would disclose. [85 I E-G]
(2) An examination of the evidence by this Court, because ·of such summary
dismissal, ho~ver, sho\VS that the findings of the trial court must be up-held.
it must be deemed that the High Court had affirmed the findings of the trial .
Co~rt when it dismissed the appeal summarily, and therefore, there is no reason
·to depart from the general rule that this Court will .not interfere with concurrent findings of fact except under very exceptional circumstances. [851 D-El
B. c. Go.swanii ·V • . Del/ii Administration, followed.
CRIMINAL APPEi.LATE JurusmcnoN : Criminal Appeal No. 200
of 1970.
·
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated the
13th October, 1970 of the Bombay High Court at Bombay in CrimiF
nal Appeal No. 1112 of 1970.
G
H
S. N. Misra and M. V. Goswami, for the appellant.
M. C. Bhandare and S. P. Nayer, for the respondent.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
BEG, J.-J"he Special Judge of Greater Bombay tried the appealiant, a Su6 lnsP"ctor in the Railway Production Force, togeth·~r with
three other members of the Force, serving under him, on charges for ,
offences punishable under· Section 120B and 161 Indian Penal Code
and Sections 5(1) (d) and 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
It was ·alleged that the appellant1 and tlle Rakshaks serving under him
at Bhusaval Central Railway Station had conspired to extort mol)ey
from Shivaji Ogale, P.W.2, a merchant owning property and goods
estimated by him at Rs. 1,50,000/-, ?nd paying Income,tax and Salest~x. The .appellant is alleged to h~ve stopped Shivaji from removing '
his goods from the goods yard ori the ground thai the .truck brought
L84Sup.Cl/74
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8~8
SUPREMil COURT REPORTS
[1974] 3 S.C.R.
b~ ~im was parked at tl\e wrong place. Tl!e ap!J!!llant, with the Jielp
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ot his Rakshaks/ was said to ha.ve threatened Kalandar Khan, P. W. 3,
the driver oi the truck, and to ha·1c actually handcuffed him and tied
· him With a rope and taken him to the appellant's office at some distance from the goods ~'Ord. Shivaji was himself said to be present at
the scene at that time which wan about 4 p.m. on 17-1-1968. The
appellant and his co-accus:d, Hari Rachu, were
alleged to have
demanded Rs. 20:J/- as bribe for releasing the truck driver without
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whom the truck could not be driven away. The vexed Shivaji. is said
to have fallen at the feet of the appellant and to have begged him to
release his driver. The appellant then reduced his demanu to Rs. 100/-.
Shivaji is said to have sent his son Sarjearao, P.W. 4, to his shop to
get Rs. !OW- which were hroug.~t in Rs. 101- notes within half an
hour and handed over to the extortionists. The appellant is said to
hav~ released the driver and allowed ·the truck to go away after this
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payment had been actually made.
The Special Judge had e~amined the whole evidence in great
detail. He observed about Shivaji, P.W. 2:
"It saw his demeanour when he was in the witness box
and it ne-1er appeared to me that he was gifted with krtile
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imagination or that the present prosecution was the product
of a deliberate conspiracy between him, Vishwanath, Vasant
and Rambabu Kate as alleged by the Learned Advocates for
the accused. Had they really intended to do so, their natural
conduct would have b:en to approach railway police them·
selves or local police or ACB. Police Bhusaval but neither
Shivaji nor Vasant did so and they preferred to write out
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a complaint in the complaint Book at Ex. 10 regarding the
incident which took place on the 17th as it really occurred'"
The complaint mentioned above was lodged at about 8 a.m. on
18-1-1 %8 after an imposition of Rs. 7. JO as wharfage charges as all
the goods could not be removed on 17-1-1968 presumably .because of
the interruption caused by the action of the appellant and his associates. Shivaji had also stated that he had related "everything" to the
Chief Goods' Clerk of Bhusaval, P.W. 8, about 6 p.m. on 17-1-1968.
The Goods' Clerk deposed that Shivaji came to his office at that time
and \old him :
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"x~x th~re was all darkn»ss in the State.. bribe was
demanded from bim; hand-i:u!i's were being pu('on, we and
our lllboun:rs were being harassed. After having told me this
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he went aw~y. As my duty hours were over I made no further
enquiry and Shivaji went away"
The Goods' Clerk had taken down •he complaint of Shivnji next morning after fixing the wharfage charges. Apparently, Shivaji, P.W. 2: an
old man cf seventv, was very agitated by what had taken place. fhe
Goods' Clerk stated that Shivaji was in an exasperated state of mind
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when he came to him on the evening of 17-1-1968.
Under cross·
cxainination. the witness stated that he.must have told the police during
the investigation that Shivaji had said. that bribes were. bein& taken.
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R. K. CHATURVEDI v. ~AHARASHTRA (Beg,!.)
849,
This statement in Court was made on 14-8-1970, more than 2t years
after the occurrence. Therefore, the mere fact that, in his e:Millinationin:chief, he did not state . that Shivaji had actually mentioned the passing of money on the evening of 16-1-1968 does not seem to be material. Sbivaji's complaint next morning contained a!l the detailed allegations. The accused could not give any. reason why this witness should
dep!1SC at all falsely against him. His testimony corroborates Shivaji's
version.
Furthermore, there is corroboration of the statement of Shivaji
from die statements of not only his son Sarjerao, P.W. 4, who brought
money from the shop, bis nephew, Visbwanath, P.W. 5, who had gone
to the scene of occurrence as there was delay in the arrival of goods,
and, Vasant; P.W. 6, who bad given out Rs. 100/- to bis brother
Sarjerao, p,w. 4, at Shivaji's shop, 'but also from the statement of
Abdul Jabar, P.W. 10, who was an Assistan.t Sub Inspector of
the Railway .Protecti9n Force and a colleague of the appellant. Abdul
la bar's evidence, characterised by the Trial Court as "independent",
disclosed that Kalandar Khan was actually arrested by the appellant
a fact denied and left unexplained .by the appellant.
Another piece of corroborative evidence offered by the prosecution was the "pucca" entry of a disbursement of Rs. 1001- as bribe
and Rs. 7.10 as wharfage shown on 17-1-1968 in the cash book of
Shlvaji. But, as this account boolt was not produced at the time of the
enquiry held by the Inspector .Hanotia of the Railway Protection Force
iBto tile allegations and the entry was admitted to have been made on
19-1-1968 although the
disbursement is shown on 17-1-1968
it
cannot
b
relied
upon.
There
is
force
in
the
conl.enlion
that.
it
app,ars to have been made to support
the prosecution case.
The wharfage charge of Rs.
7-10 was
not even fixed on 17-1-1968. However, as the entry was admitted by
the prosecution to have been actually made on 18-1-1968, it can be
ignored as a piece of corroborative evidence. The mere f&ct that it
must have been made on 18-1-1968 to support the version of Shivaji
and is admitied to have been SO\ made does not take away the value
of the evidence of Shivaji which impresse~ the Trial Court and whic11
was corroborated by other pieces of unimpeachable evidence.
CCmsK!cra~le s~ess is laid on the fact that Shivaji bad pointed out,
at a test 1~entification parade, the aci;used No. 2, Hari Rachu, as the
perso11 to whom the money was paid, but, ~t the trial, he stated that
it was paid to the appellant accused No. 1 who handed it over to
aecused No. 2. A 1ong period of time had elapsed between the occurretice and depositions at the trial by witnesses. Their memory could
very w~ll have become ·blurred ·as to who actually got the money first
if the money was passed by one accused person to another as it seems
lo baye ~n. 'I:heie could be an honest lapse of memory about. the
:"xact sequence,
The infirmity is not so serious as to be attribut-~d . to
nothing except ·mendaciousness.
The Special Judge, after a very through and carelul assessment of
the whole evidence in the case, "had come to the conclusion that the
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850
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1974] 3 s.C.R •.
prosecution case against the appellani was establisiied beyond reason~
able doubt. He had convicted the appellant under Section 120B as
well as Section 161 read with Section 34 I.P.C. and also under Section 5(l)(d) and Sec. 5(2) of Prevention of Corruption Act
and sentenced him to two years rigorous imprisonment and to pay
a fine of Rs. 300/-, and, in default of payment of fine, to undergo
further rigorous imprisonment for two months, · on each one of the
three counts, but the substantiYe sentences were made concurrent.
The appellant as well as- the other convicts had appealed to the High
.Court of Bombay.
The appellant's
appeal had
been dismissed
summarily. The appeal of the three convicted co-accused was admitted,
but it was finally dismissed, except as regards ·one of the accused who
was held to be merely present and to have carried out the orders of
the appellant before us in writing up a document alid then destroying
·it. The reasons given in the judgment of the Bombay High Court, on
that appeal, reponed as Hari Rachu Kanadi v. The State of Maharashtra('), are relied upon as arguments before us for accepting the
prosecution case.
We may here mention a fact which the Bombay High Court took
into account in confirming the convictions of two of the ce>-accused
in this case. It has been relied upon by the learned Counsel for the
State before_ us. It is that, under the provisions of the Railway Pr0tection Force, the members of that Force are not Police Officers at all
in the ordinary sense, and that the appellant had apparently exceeded
his powers of ar.rest.
The powers of.arrest without a warrant under
Section 12, vested in Superior Officers of the Force, are laid down
in the following terms :
"Power to arrest without warrant.
(12). Any superior officer or member of the Force may,
without an order from a Magistrate and without a warrant,
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( a) any person who has been concerned in an offence
relating to railway property punishable with . imprisonment
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for a term exceeding six months, or against whom a reasonable suspicion exists of his having been .so concerned, or
(b) any person found taking . precautions to. conceal
his presence within railway limits under circumstances which
afford reason to believe. that he is taking such precautions
with a View to committing theft of. or damage to, railway
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property"
It has not been shown to us what justifiable ground the appellant had
to arrest or cause the arrest of Kalandar Khan. This indicates that th~
r·::ason for the arrest could be an attempt to extort a bribe as alleged
by the prosecution. The appellant had, no doubt, denied the arrest.
This denial was clearly false in view of the statements of witnessc5
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(1) 1973 Bombay Law Reporter (Vol. 71) p. 891.
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R. K. CHATURVEDI v. MAHARASHTRA (Beg, !.)
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who included Abdul Jabar, P.W.10, a fellow member of the protection
Force to ·which the appellant belonged.
The established fact of this
arrest of Kalaodar together with the false denial of it by the appellant
indicate the dishonesty of the appellant's stand. It also corroborates
the prosecution version.
It is true that the statement of Kalandar Khan, P.W.3, the driver
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of the truck, contradict~ the prosecution case, as given out by Shivaji
and his son, so far as the actual arrest of Kalandar Khan is concerned.
But, even Kalandar Khan had deposed that the appellant had threatened him. He then went on to state that there was a quarrel as a
consequence of it and nothing more.
lie was declared hostile by
the prosecution. He was cross-examined about the statements made by
him during investigation showing that he was arrested and
that he
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actually saw the handing over of money as a bribe for his release. He
denied making such statements to the police. As there is no reason
whatsoever shown why the Investigating Officer should be prejudiced
against the appellant and falsely record statements, the Trial Court
was right in holding that Kalandar Khan was a thoroughly unreliable
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wi.ness.
The rcsu1t is that we see no reason to depart in this case from
the general rule laid down by this Court in numerous cases, such as
B. C. Goswami v. Delhi Administration, that this Court
will not
interfere with concurrent findings of fact except under very exceptional
circumstances. The High Court must be deemed to have aflirmeil the
findings of fact of the Special Judge when it dismissed the appellant's
appeal summarily even if it did not give its reasons. It is because of
such a dismissal by it that we have examined the evidence in the case
ourselves. We may here observe .th.at, although we uphold the fit\dings
of the Trial Court which would be deemed to be affirmed by the High
Court, we consider it very n-..-cessary for High ~ourts to at least record
their reasons briefly even when they dismiss criminal appeal summarily
on facts found. It is often difficult in criminal cases to say whether
any material error was committed by the Tritil Court ill arriving at its.
findings of fact without at least some examina\ion and consideration
of the main features of the evidence which only a: reasoned order could
disclose. It was mainly because reasons for summary dismissal of the
appellant's appeal were not given by the High Court that the appellant
seems to have. obtained Special Leave to appeal to this Court.
We hereby dismiss· thi~ appeal and co.nfirm the convictions and
sentences passed against the appellant who is on bail. He shall
surrender forthwith and serve out the remaining period of his concurrent sentences.
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V.P.S.
Appeal dim1/ssed.