' Nasim Iqbal, Octroi Moharrir, Kot Lakhpat Octroi Post, and Muhammad Hussain, Checking Clerk, Lahore Municipal Corporation, Lahore, were convicted by the Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Lahore, under section 409/420/468, P.P.C., and sentenced to two years' rigorous imprisonment each on each count and to pay a fine of Rs, 1,000 each or in default thereof to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for nine months each. The sentences on all counts were ordered to run concurrently. The Joint appeal of both the convicts is now before me for disposal.
2. The brief facts of the case are that Saleh Muhammad, Inspector Octroi P.W. Was posted as Checking Clerk, Octroi, in the last quarter of 1967. During the course of checking, he noted that entry No, 104 in register No, 16 pertaining to railway receipts showed the weight of diesel oil tanker as 288 Maunds and the octroi duty paid thereon at the rate of annas four per Maund as Rs,
72. He smelt a rat in the matter, as a diesel oil tanker weighed much more than 289 Maunds. He checked up the original railway receipt from Railway Station Kot Lakhpat in this tonnection. It indicated the weight of diesel oil as 1,088 Maunds. He also then checked up the matter with Mahmud Ahmad P.W. 13 of the Pakistan National Oils in this connection, who showed the original record revealing the weight of diesel oil as 1,088 Maunds and octroi duty paid thereon as Rs, 272. He accordingly informed Muhammad Hussain, Superintendent Octroi, Lahore Municipal Corporation, P.W. 3 about the facts and an inquiry was initiated. Muhammad Hussain, Superintendent, P.W. 3, during the course of enquiry, obtained the original receipt Exh. P.W. 2/C of Rs, 272 from Mahmud Ahmad, Superintendent, Pakistan ,National Oils Depot, Kot Lakhpat, P.W. 3, and found that the weight of diesel oil for which the above octroi receipt was issued was for 1,088 Maunds. He made a detailed report Exh. P.W. 3/A in this connection to Abdul Wahid, Taxation Officer, Lahore Municipal Corporation, who has since died. The case was then registered with the police. On 27th January, 1968, Nazir Sherazi P.W. 9, on the receipt of ruqqa Exh. P.W. 3/A, recorded the formal F.I.R. Exh. P.W. 9/A in this connection. Zahoor- ulHassan, Chief Goods Clerk, Railway Station, Kot Lakhpat, P.W. 11 in the year 1977 prepared copy Exh.
P.W. 1,1/A of the original railway receipt from the original record of railway station, Kot Lakhpat, indicating the weight of the diesel oil as 1,088 Maunds which was booked from Kemari (Karachi) for Pakistan National Oils Limited, Lahore. The original railway receipt No, 587629 giving the above weight, was lost due to bombardment of Kot Lakhpat Railway Station during the Indo-Pak War in December, 1971, and as such the copy Exh. P.W. 11/A of the said Railway receipt was brought as secondary evidence on the record. Ahmad Hussain Cheema, P.W. 12, Returns Clerk, was attached to Railway Station Lahore Cantonment and Kot Lakhpat in the year 1967 and during the course of his duty he had prepared the list Exh. P.W. 5/A including entry No, 5 Exh. P.W. 5/A/1 showing the incorporation of R.R. No, 587629, dated 27th May, 1967 despatched from Kemari to Lahore relating to diesel oil. In the column of weight, figure 1,088 appears to have been overwritten as 288. The list Exh.
P.W. 5/A was given by Ahmad Hussain Cheema P.W. 12 to Muhammad Hussain Bhatti, Checking Clerk, accused, and at that time it was without any overwriting or manipulation in regard to the weight which was 1,088 maunds only and not 288 maunds. Muhammad Amin, Establishment Clerk, Octroi Department, Lahore Municipal Corporation. P.W. 8 deposed that on 25th July, 1967 Nasim Iqbal, accused, served as Octroi Clerk at Octroi Post Kot Lakbphat and remained on duty on 25th July, 1967 from 8-00 a.m. To 8-00 p.m. According to office record and that even on that day the daily diary Exh. P.W. 2/A relating to the said Octroi post was in the hand of Nasim Iqbal, accused. He also stated that Muhammad Hussain, accused, on that date served as Checking Clerk and the Octroi Post, Kot Lakhpat, fell within his checking jurisdiction and that Rashid Butt, Octroi Clerk, took charge from Nasim Iqbal, Octroi Clerk, accused, on 25th July, 1967 at 8.00 p.m. Vide Exh. P.W. 2/B.
Muhammad Yaqoob. Internal Checker, Octroi Department, P.W. 7, in the year 1967 checked Octroi receipt Exh. P.W. 3/C alongwith the daily goshwara Exh. P.W. 1/A prepared by Muhammad Rashid Butt, Moharrir, wherein octroi receipt No, 49 was shown against Rs, 72 as octroi charges. Taj Muhammad P.W. 5 served as notice enquiry clerk in 1967 and during the course of investigation he produced list Exh. P.W. 5/A pertaining to Railway receipts as prepared by the Railway Commercial Clerk, before the Investigating Officer, who took the same into possession vide memo. Exh. P.W. 5/B by which the list Exh. P.W. 5/A was taken into possession by the Investigating Officer. Muhammad Munir, Record Keeper P.W. 2, similarly on 31st January, 1968 produced daily diary No, 99 Exh. P.W. 2/A, daily diary No, 100 Exh. P.W. 2/B, two Goshwaras Exhs. P.W. I/A/1, original octroi receipt No, 49 Exh. P.W.
2/C, Register R.R. Exh. P.W. 2/D, Receipt Book No, 70207 Exh. P. W. 21E, lists of R.Rs, etc., before the Investigating Officer. The daily diary No, 99 Exh. P.W. 2/A referred to above is in the hand of Nasim Iqbal, accused, when daily diary No, 100 Exh. P.W. 2/B is in the hand of Rashid Butt. Muhammad Anwar, Goshwara Clerk, P.W. 1, received the Goshwara Exh. P.W. I/A relating to goods received by rail at Octroi Post, Kot Lakhpat from the Kot Lakhpat Octroi Post in routine on 26th July, 1967. The Goshwara Exh. P.W. 1/A shows receipt No, 49 on Book No, 70207 amounting to Rs,
72. Ch. Abdul Latif, Magistrate, Lahore, P.W. 10, on 20th March, 1968 attested the specimen handwriting of Nasim Iqbal, accused, Exh. P.W. 10/E/1-6 and P.W. 10/E. 1-8, Muhammad Hussain, accused, Exh. P.W. 10/C, 1-8 and Mahmood Ahmad P.N.O. Depot Superintendent P.W. Exh. P.W. 10/D.1-8. Similarly, he attested the specimen writing of Muhammad Siddique Exh. P.W. 10/G.1-8. They all were obtained from the above-named persons by Nazir Hussain Shah S.I. P.W.
15. Shakir Hussain, Examiner of Questioned Documents of the Forensic Science Laboratory, Lahore, P.W. 14, examined the writing of the receipt Exh. P. W. 2/C and compared the same with the sample writings of persons referred to above and also compared the entry Exh. P. W. 4/A in register Exh. P W.
4/B with the sample writing Exh. P. W. I4/A. 1-4. His detailed report in this connection is Exh. P. W. 14/B.
Nazir Hussain S. I. P. W. 15 completed the investigation and challaned the accused.
3. Nasim Iqbal, accused, when examined, denied the allegations and stated that the octroi receipt No, 49, dated 25th July, 1967 Exh. P. W. 2/C was of Rs, 72 only and the weight of the diesel oil was 288 Maunds and that Muhammad Hussain, accused, prepared the said receipt, when he signed. He concluded that he was falsely implicated due to party politics in the Department. Muhammad Hussain, accused, when examined similarly denied the allegations and stated that the octroi receipt referred to above was only for 288 maunds and not for 1,088 Maunds and that the amount of octroi charges came to Rs, 72 and not Rs, 272. He admitted that the receipt Exh. P. W. 2/C was prepared by him. He concluded that he was falsely implicated due to party politics in the Department and also due to the enmity of Muhammad Hussain, Octroi Superintendent, to whom he supplied 4 Seers of ghee but he got angry with him when he demanded its price and that similarly Saleh Muhammad and Ahmad Hassan P. Ws. Were hostile towards him and concocted the present case against him and co-accused Nasim lqbal. They examined four witnesses in defence. The gist of the evidence of Muhammad Siddique D. W. 1 is that he was employed as a labourer in the P. N.
0. At Kot Lakhpat, Lahore, and that he also paid octroi charges at the octroi post Kot Lakhpat at times and that he paid a sum of Rs, 72 at Octroi Post, Kot Lakhpat, in regard to the diesel oil pertaining to this case. Mahboob Ali, D. W. 2, another labourer, and Mazhar Hussain Shah D. W. 4, then a, peon at Octori Post, Kot Lakhpat, Lahore, supported him. Muhammad Yousaf D. W. 3, another peon of Lahore Municipal Corporation, stated that he knew nothing about the matter.
4. I have heard the arguments of the learned counsel for the appellants and the State and have also perused the record. The railway receipt Exh. P. W. 11/A clearly shows that 1,088 Maunds of diesel oil was received by the Pakistan National Oils Limited, Lahore, from Kemari, Karachi. It is admitted by both the learned counsel that octroi payments could only have been received on the basis of inspection of railway receipt concerned. It is, therefore, obvious that either of the appellants, whoever inspected the railway receipt, knew that octroi was to be charged on 1,088 Maunds of diesel oil and not 288 Matinds of diesel oil. Mahmood Ahmad P. W. 13, who was the Deputy Superintendent of the Pakistan National Oils Limited at Kot Lakhpat, Lahore, in July, 1967, clearly stated in his evidence that railway oil tankers were of two types. One containing 1,088 Maunds approximately of diesel oil and the other containing about 520 Maunds approximately. It is not the appellant's case that any oil tanker containing approximately 288 maunds was ever received or off-loaded at Kot Lakhpat Railway Station. Since the Pakistan National Oils Limited received a full tanker of 1,088 Maunds of diesel oil, it had to pay octroi duty on this amount. It is inconceivable that Mahmood Ahmad P. W. 13, or anybody on his behalf, would have interpolated the railway receipt Exh. P. W. 11/C by scoring out 1,088 Maunds and replacing it by 288 Maunds, then paying Rs, 72 to the appellants as octroi thereon and then again interpolating the original receipt Exh. P. W. 2/C to upgrade the octroi duty paid. Assuming it was so done, he would have been caught out by Ahmad Hussain Cheema P. W. 10, Returns Clerk, whose duty it was to prepare a list of all the railway receipts from the Railway Stations at Lahore Cantonment and Kot Lakhpat in the year 1967, and the said forgery would have been discovered and both the appellants thus would have sent out notices to the Pakistan National Oils Limited for payment of the balance due and the Lahore Municipal Corporation perhaps would have also registered a criminal case against the representative of the Company for interpolating its copy of the R. R. To make a short payment. The fact that no notices were sent out from the octroi post at Kot Lakhpat to the Pakistan National Oils Limited is, therefore, not without significance. From the evidence of Muhammad Hussain, Superintendent, P. W. 3, and Mahmood Ahmad P. W. 13 of the Pakistan National Oils Limited, one thing is clear that when the original octroi receipt Exh. P. W. 2/C amounting to Rs, 272 was taken from the Company by the former, the said receipt clearly showed Rs, 272 as payment made and 1088 Maunds of diesel oil for which the same was eharged. It appears that interpolations were made at some later stage in the originat octroi receipt Exh. P. W. 2/C, to give the impression that it originally was issued for Rs, 72 to cover 288 Maunds of diesel oil and that it was not issued for Rs, 272 to cover 1,088 Maunds of diesel oil. Still further, the list Exh. P. W. 5/A which was given by Abmad Hussain Cheema P.W. 12 to Muhammad Hussain Bhatti, Checking Clerk, appellant, was without any overwriting or manipulation in regard to the weight of diesel oil which was 1,088 maunds and not 288 Maunds. It is also clear from the evidence of Muhammad Amin, Establishment Clerk, P. W. 8, that both the appellants were on duty at the octroi post at Kot Lakhpat on 25th July, 1967 from 8-00 a.m. To 8-00 p.m. And that the daily diary Exh. P. W. 2/A for the said date was in the hand of Nasim Iqbal, appellant. From this evidence it is clear that both the appellants are guilty of fraud and misappropriation. It is proved that the railway receipt Exh. P. W. 2/C was scribed by Muhammad Hussain, appellant, and signed at the foot thereof by Nasim Iqbal, appellant. But if there is any doubt as regards their participation in the fraud the same stands removed by the Urdu letter "a" preceding the words with a little space intervening, which is found in the carbon copy Exh. P. W. 3/C of the original receipt Exh. P. W. 2/C. If one inspects the original receipt Exh. P. W. 2/C one reads the words {{URDU TEXT}} Now what is apparent is that Muhammad Hussain, appellant, who was the scribe, having recevied Rs, 272, whilst preparing the receipt almost began to write the words and in doing so wrote the Urdu letter on the original, but realising he had to show on the counter-foil the lesser amount, he left some space after the letter {{URDU TEXT}}and then wrote out the words {{URDU TEXT}}. He then tore out the top original copy and in the intervening space between Urdu letter {{URDU TEXT}} and the words {{URDU TEXT}} he wrote in {{URDU TEXT}} This, however, he did not do on the counterfoil. Something similar perhaps was done regarding the weight of diesel oil which was to be shown. However, the Urdu letter has come up as proof of the truth of the prosecution case and I have no doubt in my mind that the findings arrived at by the learned Special Judge are correct. Taking all circumstances into consideration, the appellants appear to have been properly convicted.
5. As regards their sentences, the learned counsel for the appellants has submitted that the appellants have been out of job since 1967 and their prospects of reinstatement being remote. As they have passed their ages of retirement, their sentences be remitted, as to send them back to prison now after seventeen years would be exceedingly harsh on them. This, in fact, is a serious case and in normal circumstances, the appellants should suffer imprisonment. However, considering that the appellants have been on bail for the last twelve years and to send them back to prison now would be to visit them with frightful misfortune, I would, as a very special case, reduce their sentences to that already undergone. The appellants are on bail. Their bail bonds shall stand discharged. However, the fines imposed on the appellants and the sentences awarded in default thereof are hereby maintained.
6. This appeal, therefore, partly succeeds in terms of reduction of sentence, as stated above.
7. The file should be sent to the Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, Punjab, Lahore, for recovery of fine from the appellants.