By referring to the manual charges I mean the lifting of poles by manual labourers from Depo site to the truck and also their removal after unloading to the stock site.
On appeal being preferred, the High Court of Jammu Kashmir acquitted 19 more including Superintending Engineer Shri Kaul and sustained companyviction of 11 persons who are the appellants in the 10 appeals at hand.
Siddiq.
As to the companytention that the rates of carriage per pole came to 30.49 paise insofar as the transportation done by Shri Bassu is companycerned, Shri Handoos submission was that this calculation as put on record on behalf of the appellants is wrong.
Q Why you are being prosecuted?
A I am innocent.The idea was to electrify areas around Leh first for which it was felt that 3100 bamboo poles would be required.
A Yes.
The quotation Ex PW3/10 which I have seen today was signed by my partner Farooq Ahmed Zargar and bears the signature of said Farooq Ahmed Zarqar and number of Farooq Ahmed Qureshi.
This made a difference, according to the learned companynsel for the appellants, as the number of poles carried by the trucks which had been engaged by the companytractors at hand used to be even 70.
After receipt of reply, the Minister asked for a report from the Chief Engineer.
It deserves to be pointed out that the poles which had been carried in 1977 had basically been supplied by Mustaq Company and it was the obligation of this fir, as per Shri Handoo, to bring the poles from the forest to the stocking dumping site.
A reference to that statement showed that the unloading charge came to Rs.18 per pole and the loading charge to Rs.7.80.
The four companytractors are 1 Hafeezullah 2 Farooq Ahmed Qurashi 3 Abdul Rashid Khan and 4 Peer Gulam Nabi.
Appellant Hafizullah started transportation work from 24th September and this companytinued till 29th, during which period 1125 poles were carried.
Of them, 7 are officials and 4 are companytractors.
He wanted wanted information about the same by writing a D.O. letter to the Power Development Commissioner on 18.11.1977 followed by a reminder on 5.12.1977.
The private transport carriers also used to charge the same amount per truck.
Criminal Appeal Nos.522,528 and 529 of 1981 are, therefore, allowed by setting aside the companyviction of the appellants and by ordering their acquittal.
This being high priority ares, the companycern of the Government is to see that this work does number suffer for want of transport vehicles.
12 A. From the above quoted evidence of PW 24, it is number known how much had been paid during his incumbency as total loading and unloading charges.
This apart, food grains are required to be stored in Kashmir valley and Ladakh to cater to the needs of the people during winter season.
A I do number know.
He was made a Minister.
The learned companynsel companytended that this figure had to be doubled because the same amount used to be incurred for bringing poles at the stocking site from the forest.
ECD Leh as proprietor of Arfa Elec.
The work was to arrange transport vehicles to carry required number of poles to Leh before November, after which Ladakh region becomes virtually inaccessible.
Q Would you like to lead sic, make any other submission?
The bill was given for typing and the typist companymitted a mistake, which was companyrected by hand.
For manual carriage of the poles we have to pay extra.
The fund for the same was to be provided by the Central Government under Rural Electrification Scheme.
It was also numbered that from September onwards the fruit session starts and all available transport is diverted to carry fruits to the plane and numbertransport is available for Ladakh.
Q When you took these poles for installation from Choglamsar you again had to incur expenses for manual carriage, loading and unloading of poles?
Of the aforesaid appellants, Dhar was a Sectional Officer in the Power Development Department, Zadoo a Store keeper cum Clerk and Siddiq a Junior Clerk engaged on work charged basis.
Appellant Qurashi had executed the work from 18th for 6 days and had transported 1038 poles.
It the trial which companymenced, after discharge of one a labourer , 65 witnesses were examined by the prosecution and 2 by the defence.
On receipt of the same, he felt the matter required deeper probe and appointed Qazi Mohd.
His report was submitted on 3.4.1978 which highlighted some serious irregularities.
But then, the number of poles to be carried by these trucks to a place like Leh used to be around 25.
Afzal as Enquiry Officer in December, 1977.
A That is number companyrect.
After companysidering the report, the Government entrusted the matter for further probe to the Anti Corruption Organization set up under the Jammu Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, 2006, hereinafter the Act .
524 and 525 of 1981 These are the companytractors who had been approached by Buch and had started transportation work from 18.9.77 the date of the issuance of the NIT being 17.9.77.
A case was accordingly registered on 26.4.1978 and a Senior Superintendent of Police, one Shri S.S. Ali, was entrusted with the investigation, who after companypletion of the same and after obtaining sanction from the Government, submitted charge sheet on 10.8.1978 against 42 accused.
A No witness has deposed anything against me.
The electrification scheme was taken up after Shri Narboo, who was Minister for Works, Power,Tourism and Ladakh Affairs, had toured the area from 5.6.1976 to 13.7.1976.
The O. had number said anything about this on his own, number was he asked any such question in cross examination.
This was in February 1977.
The bill was due because of the arrangement made by me and my partner with ECD Leh on 8.9.77.
To see that the scheme was implemented within time, a separate Electric Construction Division was created at Leh.
An Executive Engineer was put in charge of the Division and he was one N.A. Salaria, who was selected because of his dashing character which had companye to light by his getting established a generating station at Choglamsar within record time.
He wanted to do many things for Ladakhis.
Q Why the witness are deposing against you?
The companyspiracy came to the numberice of numbere else than Shri Narboo as some companyplaints were received by him in November, 1977 regarding giving of companytract of transportation to private firms on per kilometer per pole basis and the poles being also of sub standard quality.
One of the projects which the Minister Shri Sonam Narboo wanted to get fructified was electrification of tehsils of Leh and Kargil.
Great number of documents were also exhibited.
HANSARIA.
When Shri Thakur was questioned on this, the learned companynsel had referred us to the evidence of the Investigating Officer O. finding place at page 230A of Volume IV.
1400/ in the relevant year.
Thus the total came to about Rs.26 from stocking site to the truck.
Q Further that Farooq Ahmed Qurashi S O your Fathers Brothter in Law had submitted quotation in response to NIT issued by Xen.
The officials are 1 Executive Engineer, N.A. Salaria 2 Assistant Engineer, D. Buch 3 4 two employees of the Chief Engineers office T.K. Kantroo and V.K. Razdan 5 7 three officers who had passed the poles they being H.L. Dhar, Farooq Ahmed Zadoo and Mohd.
It is number known which instances the I.O. had in mind when he had stated about loading and unloading charges.
Co. with which you had numberconnections?
The trial companyrt by its very exhaustive judgment dated 29.9.1981, which runs into 420 pages, acquitted 11 persons including Power Development Commissioner, Shri Ahangar and Chief Engineer, Shri Naqash and companyvicted 30 under various sections of law including section 120 B Ranbir Penal Code and section 5 2 of the Act.
As per his companytention the per pole rate then was 9.36 paise as mentioned in the Charge Sheet filed in the case, a companyy of which is from pages 1 to 86 of Volume I of the Paper Book prepared by the appellants.
Shri Handoo companytended that though the number of poles carried were more, the same did number really matter inasmuch as total cft cubic feet transported was number in any significant manner more than carried by the trucks of RTC or private transport owners because each of those trucks used to carry about 280 cft, whereas from Statement No.2 filed by Shri Thakur it would appear that the cft carried in the present case ranged between 200 to 300, though in some cases it went upto 400 also.
Appellants Hafeezullah and F.A. Qurashi Criminal Appeal Nos.
J. The 1975 accord with Sheikh Abdullah saw a dynamic person from Ladakh companying to the fore.
