Shyam Lal Sharma v/s. State of Madhya Pradesh
- Tanushi Sharma
- May 24, 2020
Content :
26th May, 1965 : Owner of a lorry, Sardar Jagat Singh, made an application to the Vigilance Commissioner of Bhopal Division that the appellant Sh. Shyam Lal Sharma, barrier Inspector at Village Multai (District Betul in Madhya Pradesh) has seized the licence of his lorry driver on the grounds that if he has to pass from the barrier, he should bring Rs. 5 per trip or Rs. 40 per month. The driver refused to pay Sh. Shyam Lal Sharma anything and refused to go there as a result of which Sardar Jagat Singh was likely to suffer heavy loss.
He, therefore, offered to give currency notes which may be signed and requested that a decoy may be given to him to arrest the Barrier Inspector Sh. Shyam Lal Sharma.
Upon the allegations of Sardar Jagat Singh, a trap was arranged. It was led by a team of four persons which included Circle Inspector Sh. Rana Ranjit Singh, Sh. Jagat Singh (his driver), Sh. Panchas Hardeet Singh and Sh. Munna Lal. All of them proceeded to Multai barrier by truck to arrange for a trap and catch the culprits red-handed. The decoy witness handed over Rs. 40 in currency notes to Constable Sh. Narayan Singh, present inside the barrier office. Thereafter a signal was given to the police party. When the constable saw the Circle Inspector approaching, the constable hid the aforesaid currency notes in an inner apartment of the office under an overcoat.
When Rana Ranjit Singh i.e., the Circle Officer made a search of the premises he recovered the notes hidden within the overcoat. The notes were eventually seized and while he was preparing the Panchnama, co-accused Sh. Udho Prasand, who was a sub-ordinate of Inspector Shyam Lal Sharma, arrived at the scene. He took Rana Ranjit Singh to task for having entered Sh. Sharma’s office without permission and even asked Constable Sh. Narayan Singh to not to sign the seizure memo. While these arguments were going on, the accused Inspector Sh. Shyam Lal Sharma arrived there and he also rebuked the Circle Officer Sh. Rana Ranjit Singh and questioned his authority.
Further, accused Sh. Shyam Lal Sharma asked Circle Inspector Sh. Rana Ranjit Singh to give in writing that he has entered the barrier office without the permission of the person in-, else he won’t be allowed to move out of the office even when Circle Officer asserted that authority was conferred upon him to make a search. The accused, by their best possible ways, created obstructions while the Circle Officer was discharging his duties. The accused grappled on him as well. In this way, not only did Sh. Shyam Lal Sharma, along with his accomplices, tried to obstruct the proper functioning of the work being performed by Circle Inspector Sh. Rana Ranjit Singh, but Sh. Shyam Lal Sharma, along with his accomplices, also tried to cause physical harm to Circle Inspector Sh. Rana Ranjit Singh.
The appellants along with another accused Sh. Narayan Singh, were convicted by the High Court under sections 332, 353, 342 of the Indian Penal Code and were sentenced to one year\'s rigorous imprisonment on each count, the sentences to run concurrently.
