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Shiv Shankar Prasad Singh v. The State of Bihar

Criminal Appeal · 2019 INSC 292Decided 28 Feb 2019
Criminal Appeal No. 1804 of 2011
Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre · Justice R. Subhash Reddy

Background

The appellant, an employee of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) posted at a depot in Bihar, was convicted along with a co-accused depot in-charge for conspiring to misappropriate over 1,000 bags of urea fertiliser meant for delivery to the FCI godown, by falsifying gate registers and other records to show the fertiliser had arrived when it had not. The trial court convicted them under provisions of the Indian Penal Code (criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts) and the Prevention of Corruption Act, and the Patna High Court upheld the conviction while reducing the sentence, leading to this further appeal to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court examined the evidence, including documentary records and witness testimony from truck owners, drivers, and FCI staff, and found that fertiliser bags shown as "received" in the depot registers had in fact been diverted elsewhere, with a supporting document relied on by the defence having been created years after the incident and after the FIR was filed, undermining its credibility. Finding the concurrent findings of guilt by the trial court and the High Court neither perverse nor erroneous, and noting that a co-accused's parallel challenge had already been dismissed by the Supreme Court, the Court held the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt and dismissed both appeals, cancelling the appellants' bail bonds and directing them to surrender within four weeks to serve their sentences.

Lesson Learnt

Concurrent findings of guilt by a trial court and a High Court, based on solid documentary and witness evidence, are very difficult to overturn in a further appeal, and fabricated records created after the fact to cover up a shortfall can be exposed by comparing their creation date to the timeline of the original incident and investigation.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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