Mulkh Raj Arora vs State of Punjab

M.L. Singhal, J.

This order will dispose of Criminal Miscellaneous Application No. 1868M of 1999 whereby Mulkh Raj Arora has claimed anticipatory bail in case F.I.R. No. 55, dated July 22, 1998 registered at Police Station ''D'' Division, Amritsar under Sections 409/120B I.P.C. and Criminal Miscellaneous No. 2424M of 1999 whereby Prem Nath is seeking anticipatory bail in the same F.I.R.

The prosecution case, in brief, is that with effect from April 1, 1995 to May 21, 1998, there took place embezzlement of money belonging to the Punjab State Electricity Board in City Centre Division, Amritsar and the commission of other grave irregularities. Senior Executive Engineer, City Centre Division, Amritsar of the Punjab State Electricity Board wrote memo No. 2299 dated June 9, 1998 to the Senior Superintendent of Police, Amritsar whereby he requested for the registration of First Information Report against the delinquent employees of the Board for committing embezzlement. On that letter, a case was ordered to be registered under Sections 409/120B of the Indian Penal Code against Asha Kesar Clerk and Palwinder Kaur, Clerk by the Senior Superintendent of Police, Amritsar.

It was submitted by the learned Counsel for Mulkh Raj Arora that cheques of the amount of Rs. 71,859/ and Rs. 5,091/ were received by coaccused Palwinder Kaur, Asha Kesar which were handed over to Mulkh Raj Arora who was the Head Cashier. They were not presented to the bank. In the article of charges drawn up against Palwinder Kaur, Asha Kesar, it is alleged that payinslip dated October 7, 1996 was prepared by him and entry on the account was also made but the payinslip does not bear the Bank stamp. It was submitted that the case of the prosecution is that the probability of Mulkh Raj Arora having embezzled the aforesaid amount in connivance with the other accused is there. It was further submitted that Mulkh Raj Arora was given "no due certificate" by the higher officials of the concerned department where he had served for more than 30 years and retired on January 31, 1997 i.e. much before the registration of this case. It was further submitted that all the payinslips and cheques collected by Mulkh Raj Arora in his capacity as Head Cashier were handed over by him to the R.A. who was holding rank superior to his rank. The R.A. was responsible for the presentation of the cheques to the Bank for clearance. The L.D.C./R.A. was responsible for depositing the cheques in the Banks and the copy of the cash book dated October 4, 1996 which was prepared by the petitioner and handed over to Rajinder Kapoor, R.A. mentions the amount of Rs. 75,462/ which was received by Mulkh Raj Arora from Palwinder Kaur, Cashier. This amount included the amount of Rs. 71,859/ i.e. the amount which he is said to have embezzled. It was further submitted that the consumer himself deposited the amount of Rs. 71,859/ alongwith the penalty, i.e. total amount of Rs. 85,000/ in the coffers of the Board. It was further submitted that there is no loss to the Board as the amount stood already deposited and further Asha Kesar and Palwinder Kaur coaccused have already been admitted to anticipatory bail by this Court.

The learned Deputy Advocate General, for the State of Punjab, on the other hand, submitted that before lodging First Information, audit enquiry was made by Shri S.K. Duggal, Additional Superintending Engineer, Technical Audit, Punjab State Electricity Board, Amritsar who found Mulkh Raj Arora and Prem Nath etc. guilty of embezzlement. Allegation against Mulkh Raj Arora is that he had embezzled Rs. 1,75,816/ by showing bogus cheque number on RO4 which actually were never presented to the Bank. It was also submitted that he did not reconcile the cheques deposited in the Bank with his cash book. The Board was put to a financial loss to the tune of Rs. 21,45,963/ by not making debit entry to the consumers'' account where the cheques were dishonoured.

It was submitted on behalf of Prem Nath that the allegation against him is that he is responsible for missing LS Leader, between 4/96 to 9/96 alongwith all connected record of MCO''s, DCO''s, PDCO''s and SJO''s with the result the Board could not debit lacs of rupees to the consumers on account of various job orders. All the relevant record such as MCOs, DCOs, SJOs for the said period are also missing. Further allegation against him is that with a mala fide intention he omitted balance of previous months showing bogus receipt numbers in the ledger and, thus, defrauded the Board to the tune of Rs. 23,04,607/ in account No., 54 IL, 73A IL, 98 IL and 186 IL by making corrections/changes in the bills at his own level without any approval from any competent authority. It was submitted on behalf of Prem Nath that in fact he was working on the post of mere L.D.C. and he had handed over all the files pertaining to the period 4/96 to 9/96 to his superior officer i.e. R.A. who was responsible for the safe custody of the files. As regards, the allegation of omitting the balance of previous months while preparing the bills and making correctness in the bills, it was submitted that it was a mere clerical error. It was further submitted that the Board has not been put to a loss even to the tune of a single penny. The entire amount of Rs. 23,04,607/ has been deposited in the coffers of the Board by the consumers. It was further submitted that he has put in more than 30 years of service in the Board and is to retire shortly. His coaccused Asha Kesar and Palwinder Kaur have already been allowed anticipatory bail.

The learned Deputy Advocate General for the State of Punjab, on the other hand, submitted that Mulkh Raj, Kailash Chander and Prem Nath have embezzled Rs. 1,75,816/, Rs. 11,516 and Rs. 23,04,607/ respectively as mentioned in the audit report submitted by the Additional Superintending Engineer, Technical Auditor and this amount has to be recovered from them. It would bear repetition that the amount of Rs. 23,04,607/ has been deposited in the coffers of the Punjab State Electricity Board by the consumers themselves.

The investigation of the case hinges on the documentary evidence which must be with the Punjab State Electricity Board. I think anticipatory bail should be allowed to Mulkh Raj Arora and Prem Nath. It is, therefore, ordered that in the event of arrest, the Investigating Officers shall call upon them to furnish bail. They shall join the investigation. They shall keep joining the investigation. If during the investigation, the Investigating Officer feels that without custodial interrogation of Mulkh Raj Arora and Prem Nath or both, as the case may be, the investigation will remain stultified, he may apply to the learned Sessions Judge, Amritsar for the cancellation of bail allowed either to Mulkh Raj Arora or Prem Nath or both. The learned Sessions Judge will not cancel bail till he hears the petitioners and the State.

The Criminal Miscellaneous applications are disposed of in the manner indicated above.