9911796707
TMI Blog1962 (11) TMI 82X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oot. Chauhan had with him a double barrelled gun of twelve bore bearing No. 23727. On either side of the Railway line there were reserve forests of the State. Some of the group got down from the trollies, flashed a search-light and fired their guns. Two persons were shot dead. Chauhan in order to create evidence in his favour got a report entered by the appellant, a Police Head-constable, in the General diary of the Police Station purporting to have been taken on December 13, 1956, at 6.45 P.M. to the effect that Chauhan had deposited the said gun in the Police Station. Many other manipulations were made by the appellant in the Police record to bring it in conformity with the said false entry. Several persons, including Chauhan and the appe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ikely thereby to save X X X X X shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine or with both. 4. The crux of the section so far as it is relevant to the present inquiry is that the public servant should have acted in the manner contemplated by this section with an intent thereby to save or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby save any person from legal punishment. 5. The argument of the learned counsel under the first head hinges upon the alleged inconsistency and conflict between the acquittal of Chauhan and the conviction of the appellant. Chauhan had been charged along with the appellant for offences under Sections 304-A, 120-B, 201/109 and 218/109 of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e learned Judge accepted the evidence that Chauhan was in the shooting party that day, that he carried a gun with him, that two persons were killed with gun shots but for some reason with the correctness of which we are not concerned here he acquitted Chauhan. It is, therefore, manifest that whether Chauhan was guilty or not, at the time the false entries were made in the case diary there was every likelihood of Chauhan being prosecuted along with others for causing the death of Ramdeo and Chotey. Indeed as expected Chauhan and others were prosecuted though they were acquitted. On the said facts the mere acquittal of Chauhan cannot displace the finding of the learned Judge that the appellant manipulated the record with an intent thereby to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tention to save or knowing it likely that he would thereby save the offenders from legal punishment and by that false entry he was trying to get the evidence of the offences under Sections 304A of the Indian Penal Code and 26 of the Indian Forest Act to disappear ? 7. The learned Judge found on the third point that the appellant intentionally falsified the official record with a view to save Chauhan but he acquitted Chauhan by giving him the benefit of doubt on the ground that his signature was not found against the entry of deposit of the gun on December 13, 1956, and also against the entry of the return of the gun on December 18, 1956. In the view of the learned Judge it was not established conclusively that Chauhan abetted the appella ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t or under general Police powers given by the Act. Section 42 does not apply to prosecution against any person for anything done under the provisions of any other Act or under Police powers conferred under any other Act. Under s. 36 nothing contained in the Police Act shall be construed to prevent any person from being prosecuted under any Regulation or Act for any offence made punishable by this Act or for being liable under any other Regulation or Act or any other or higher penalty or punishment than is provided for such offence by this Act. This section makes it clear that the provisions of the Act including s. 42 do not preclude a person from being prosecuted for an offence under any other Act. A combined reading of these provisions lea ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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