This order will also dispose of Writ Petitions Nos. 4602/78, 4603/78 and 4575/78 as similar points of law and facts are involved in all the cases and the accused persons have been found guilty and sentenced by the same Court during the same proceedings.
2. A case was registered against the petitioners under section 3/6 of the Foodstuffs Control Order as well as sections 409, 420, 468 and 471, P. P. C, at Police Station Misri Shah, Lahore, on 14th of march, 1978. According to the F.I.R. a raid was conducted under the leadership of Major Muhammad Arif Hashmi upon Badami Bagh Decent Flour Mills on 9th of March, 1978 on the basis of an information to the effect that some officials of Food Department posted at the mills during the month of January 1978 had supplied Atta to certain such depots which were not attached with the aforesaid Mills or even other flour mills. According to the report no order for supply of Atta had been passed by the D. F. C. R., Lahore. It was found during the raid at Badami Bagh Decent Flour Mills that the depots which had been supplied Atta therefrom by the officials of the Food Department including the petitioners were in fact attached with other flour mills such as Misri Shah Flour Mills, Bhatti Flour Mills Baghbanpura, Ravi Bund Road Flour Mills etc. The raiding party also took into its custody the relevant record maintained by the aforesaid flour mills. The said record was, examined and it was found that the Food Department officials who were posted at Ahmad Flour Mills, Royal Flour Mills, Misri Shah Flour Mills and Bhatti Flour Mills during the mono of January 1978 had reported the stock position of Atta to be quite satisfactory so far as their Mills were concerned but in spite of that they issued chits in favour of certain depots for the supply of Atta from Badami Bagh Decent Flour Mills. According to the F.I.R. a large quantity of Atta worth lacs of rupees was got supplied.
3. In all ten officials of the Food Department were arrested and tried by the Military Court. Five, of them were found not guilty and were acquitted while the remaining five i. e. The present petitioners were held guilty and sentenced to various imprisonments. They are all officials of the Food Department.
4. Petitioners Muhammad Safdar and Muhammad Aslam were charged with the offence under sections 409 and 471, P. P. C. To the effect that during the month of January, 1978 as Food Supervisor and Food Inspector respectively ; posted at Badami Bagh Decent Flour Mills, dishonestly issued 19866 bags of Government wheat-flour from the mills to un--authorised persons without lawful authority and thereby committed criminal breach of trust and further they used forged chits as genuine documents for the delivery of 5140 bags of Government wheat-flour, Saleem Ahmad and Muhammad Naeem petitioners were also charged with the same offence under sections 409 and 471, P. P. C. Muhammad Iqbal petitioner who was posted as Food Supervisor at Ahmad Flour Mills was charged under sections 420 and 466, P. P. C. To the effect that he dishonestly issued 18 chits for delivery of 8071 bags of Government wheat-flour from Badami Bagh Decent Flour Mills and forged 18 chits for delivery of 8071 bags of Government wheat-flour for the purpose of cheating and committing fraud upon the Government.
5. All the petitioners have denied the charge levelled against them. Petitioner Muhammad Safdar has stated in his statement in defence that he neither received any chit for supply of Atta nor he issued any chit to any other mill for the same purpose. He has submitted that he was working under direct control of Masood Ahmad Food Inspector who has since been acquitted in this case.
Muhammad Aslam petitioner has stated in his statement made in defence that all the written requests in the form of chits were received by the. Food Inspector, Masood Ahmad. They were brought to him by Ration Depot Holders from other Mills. He has further stated that he has not issued any chit to any other flour mill for supply of Atta. According to him this fact has been admitted by the Investigating Inspector in his statement as P. W. Petitioner Muhammad Iqbal has denied in his statement made in defence to have issued any chit to any flour mill for supply of Atta.
The execution of the chits alleged to have been signed by him has been denied by Muhammad Iqbal. Naeem Ahmad and Saleem Ahmad petitioners,/officials of the Food Department attached with the Electric Flour Mills have denied to have issued any chit to any Mill for the supply of Atta nor any chit was issued by another Mill to their Mill which was honoured by them: The evidence produced against them does not prove that they are guilty of issuing Atta to any Depot Holder not attach--ed with the Electric Flour Mills.
6. The chits as well as certain documents and registers in question which are alleged to have been issued, signed or executed by the petitioners, as the case may be, have not been pro ed on record in accordance with law. There is no evidence on record to show that the documents/registers have been duly signed by the petitioners. There is no report of any Handwriting Expert submitted before the Court after due comparison of the signatures of the petitioners that the aforesaid chits/registers/documents bear their signatures. In the absence of that it is difficult to conclude that any chit was issued, entry was made in the relevant register and document was executed by any of the petitioners. It was open to the prosecution to prove their signature alleged to have been affixed on the aforesaid documents. In the absence of that it cannot be said that the documents mentioned above are signed or executed by the petitioners. When the charge of issuing of chits, making entries in the relevant registers and executing any document in an illegal manner has not been proved against the petitioners in accordance with law and that too in the presence of their statements totally denying the charge it cannot be said that there is sufficient material on record to connect the petitioners with the offence alleged to have been committed by them.
7. The impugned order passed by the Military Court convicting and sentencing the petitioners in the aforesaid writ Petitions to various terms of imprisonment is hereby set aside. They would be released forthwith if not required in any other case.
8. Writ petitions are accepted without any order as to costs.