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TMI Blog1986 (1) TMI 106X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... petitioner is that on 13-9-1979 at about 5.15 p.m. at Madras Central Railway Station at Platform No. 1, he was found in possession, custody and control of six bars of primary gold weighing 2,747 grams in all and valued at Rs. 3,16,000 without a licence and thereby contravened the provisions of Section 8(1) (i) of the Gold Control act and committed an offence punishable under Section 85(1) of the Act. The revision petitioner is aged about 26 years and belongs to Raipur, Madhya Pradesh. When he got down from the Tamil Nadu express train which came from New Delhi at 5.15 p.m. on 13-9-1979 at Central Railway Station, P.W. 1 Vaikundam, Inspector of Police and P.W. 2 Vittal Kidhiri, Deputy Superintendent of Police on suspicion searched the revision petitioner and found M.O. 7 series two gold bars, M.O. 8 series two gold bars and M.O. 9 series two gold bars kept in a paper packet, M.Os. 4, 5 and 6 respectively and all of them kept in M.O. 1 suit case. The total weight of the gold bars was 2,747 grams. The value of the gold on that date was Rs. 3,16,000. On behalf of the prosecution, P.W. Vaikundam, P.W. 2 Vittal Kadhiri, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Narcotics Intelligence Bureau, P.W. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... No. 1 and at that time P.Ws. 1 and 2 and their party stopped the revision petitioner and enquired him. The revision petitioner was having M.O. 1 suit case with him. It was locked with M.O. 12. The revision petitioner was directed to open the box with the help of a key in the key bunch M.O. 13. The revision petitioner opened the box. Inside the suit case, there were clothes, M.O. 2 small blue colour rexine bag, which had openings on either side and there were three paper packet. In side the packet, M.Os. 4 to 6 were there and in each one of the paper packet there were two gold bars. In all there were six gold bars in the above three paper packets. The said six gold bars are M.Os. 7 to 9. The revision petitioner was having M.O. 10 Rail ticket and M.O. 11 Reservation ticket with him at that time. 5. When the revision petitioner was so searched from the beginning till end P.W. 6 Mani and another Srinivasan who was working as a porter in the Central Railway Station, were present, P.W. 6 Inspector of Police was on duty in the Railway Station at that time. 6. A goldsmith who was brought there, weighed the six gold bars and informed that the weight of the six gold bars was 2.747 grams ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e request of the said Ashok Kumar the accused had brought the gold bars by train from Raipur to Nagpur and by Tamil Nadu Express from Nagpur to Madras. It was on that day, namely on 13-9-1979 the accused was caught hold of by the officers and the gold jewels with him were seized by them. 10. The complainant filed the case against the revision petitioner on 14-4-1981. When questioned under Section 313 Cr. P.C. the revision petitioner herein stated before the trial Court that it is true that he came in the train at 5.15 p.m. to Madras Central Station on 13-9-1979 and that M.O. 10 is the Railway ticket which he had in his possession. According to the revision petitioner, other material objects including gold bars were seized from him. On the consideration of the evidence available on record, the learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate held that the prosecution had proved its case against the revision petitioner beyond all reasonable doubt and found him guilty under Section 85 (1) read with Section 8 (1) (i) of the Gold Control Act, 1968. Aggrieved by the above decision of the trial Court, the revision petitioner herein preferred C.A. No. 393 of 1981 before the learned Principal Sessio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... prepares, repairs polishes or processes or places any order for making, manufacturing, preparing, repairing, polishing or processing, of any article or ornament; or (vii) buys or otherwise acquires, or accepts or otherwise receives, or agrees to buy or otherwise acquire or to accept or otherwise receive, or sells, delivers, transfers or otherwise disposes of, or agrees to sell, deliver, transfer or otherwise dispose of, or exposes or offers for sale, delivery, transfer or other disposal, any article or ornament; or (viii) owns or has in his possession, custody or control any article or ornament; or (ix) carries on any business or transaction in gold for which a licence or certificate is required to be obtained by or under this Act; Or (x) Carries on business as a banker or money-lender; shall without prejudice to any other action that may be taken under this act, be punishable - (a) if the offence is under clause (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) or (viii) [the offence under Cl. (viii) being a contravention of sub-section (5) of Section 55 and the value of the gold involved therein exceeds one lakh of rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and with fin ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on of the said witness even during the investigation does not in any way affect the prosecution case. The fact remains that the gold bars were seized directly from the revision petitioner himself in the presence of respectable witnesses. There is absolutely no evidence on record to show that any coercion or force was exercised on the revision petitioner either by P.W. 1 or P.W. 2 to give confessional statement at any point of time and as such the confessional statement Ex. P. 7 cannot be held to have been obtained by force from the revision petitioner. Reasonable care had been taken by both P.Ws. 1 and 2 for recording the statement of the revision petitioner in Tamil by translating the Tamil version into Hindi. After recording the same they had taken care to see that Tamil statement is translated into Hindi and the revision petitioner acknowledged the contents of Ex. P. 7 to be correct. Thereafter only the revision petitioner had signed the same. On the very next day of recording of Ex. P. 7, the revision petitioner had been produced before the learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. At that time, the learned Magistrate himself had endorsed saying that no violence had been exercised ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... een a long ordeal deterrent enough to inhibit future anti-social adventures, and some jail term he has already undergone. Counsel submits that his client will now turn a new leaf if he is not returned to prison. We decline to be moved by this dubious prospect. 15. The new horizons is penal treatment with hopeful hues of correction and rehabilitation are statutorily embodied in India in some special enactments; but crimes professionally committed by deceptively respectable members of the community by inflicting severe trauma on the health and wealth of the nation - and the numbers of this neo-criminal tribe are rapidly escalating-form a deterrent exemption to humane softness in sentencing. 16. The penal strategy must be informed by social circumstances, individual factors and the character of the Crime. India has been facing an economic crisis and gold smuggling has had a disastrous impact on the State's efforts to stabilize the country's economy smugglers, hoarders, adulterators and others of their like have been busy in their under-world because the legal hardware has not been able to halt the invisible economic aggressor inside. The effectiveness of prosecutions in arresting ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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