STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Justice Rajnesh Oswal of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court modified the imprisonment awarded by a CBI court to Abdul Khaliq Bhat, an employee of Kamraz Rural Bank (now J&K Grameen Bank).
Justice Rajnesh Oswal, after hearing both sides, observed that the trial court had examined the evidence led by the prosecution in detail. This evidence had been appreciated by the High Court as well, and the High Court arrived at the same conclusion as the trial court, except regarding the conviction of the appellant for the commission of an offense under Section 420 RPC. The appellant failed to satisfy the High Court that there had been any wrong appreciation of evidence by the trial court. In fact, based on the evidence presented by both parties, the only conclusion that could be reached was that the appellant was guilty of offenses punishable under Section 409 RPC and 5(2) read with 5(1)(c) & (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Therefore, the High Court found no infirmity in the judgment of conviction recorded by the trial court, except with regard to the conviction under Section 420 RPC. Accordingly, the appellant was acquitted of the charge for the commission of an offense under Section 420 RPC. However, the conviction under Sections 409 RPC and 5(2) read with 5(1)(c) &(d) of the J&K Prevention of Corruption Act, Samvat, 2006, was maintained. At the time of conviction, the appellant was 65 years old, and he must now be 70 years of age. The appellant’s counsel submitted that the appellant suffered from old age problems and often remained admitted to the hospital. The trial court had already noted that there were no aggravating factors warranting exemplary punishment and, accordingly, had awarded two years of simple imprisonment on each count. It was also noted that the money had been repaid to PW Bashir Ahmed Parray through Tariq Ahmed Parray. While Section 409 of RPC does not provide for a minimum sentence, the commission of an offense under Section 5(1)(c) & (d) of the PC Act is punishable with imprisonment for a term not less than one year, along with a fine. Taking into consideration that the appellant was 70 years old, the sentence awarded to him on each count was reduced from two years to one year on both counts. The sentences would run concurrently, and the period for which the appellant had already remained in custody would be set off against the period of imprisonment of one year. The fine imposed by the trial court remained unaltered. The judgment dated September 29, 2018 passed by the Court of the learned Special Judge Anti-Corruption (CBI) Cases, Srinagar, in File NO: 313/2015 titled “C.B.I versus Abdul KhaliqBhat” in case FIR No. 01220009A0004 was modified accordingly.
The court further directed that the appellant be granted fifteen days time to surrender before the trial court. After his surrender, the appellant would be lodged in Central Jail, Srinagar, to serve the remaining sentence as awarded.
