Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 31: Additional Sessions Judge Anticorruption Jammu, Sanjay Parihar acquitted Javid Iqbal Mir, the then Store-keeper Rice Mill Chatha and Hari Lal, the then Accountant Tehsil Marketing Society Jammu, who were involved in embezzlement of Rs 1,02,000, after more than 23 years investigation and trial as State Vigilance Organization failed to prove case.
According to the challan, the accused persons during the period between 1982 and 1989 committed embezzlement to the tune of Rs 1, 02,000 and accordingly case under Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against them.
During the course of investigation, the IO collected relevant record and recorded the statement of the witnesses. The challan was presented in the court of law on February 25, 1997 against the accused persons and the same was withdrawn on April 24, 1997 on the ground that the sanction by the Government was invalid because the accused were the employee of Cooperative Society at the time of commission of offence and as such sanction was required from the Chairman Tehsil Marketing Society Ltd.
Accordingly, sanction from Chairman being competent authority was obtained against store-keeper and the challan was presented in the year of 2000.
After hearing Advocates Inder Singh and BB Kotwal for the accused persons, Additional Sessions Judge Anticorruption Sanjay Parihar, after going through the case and statements of prosecution witnesses, observed, “the defence versions appear to be reasonable trustworthy about the dispute being purely of civil in nature which was capable of adjudication in accordance with provision of J&K Cooperative Societies Act thereby leaving no room for Vigilance Organization to have stepped in or to sit over as an appellant authority over the dispute between the society and its employee”.
With these observations, court acquitted the accused persons.
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