A sessions court convicted one man for possessing demonetised currency worth ₹25,500, imposing a fine of ₹1 lakh five times the recovered amount while acquitting him and two others of charges linked to a 2017 attack on a lawyer, citing doubts over identification and gaps in forensic evidence.
Additional sessions judge Navdeep Kaur Gill pronounced the judgment in a case concerning an attack on advocate Harkishan Singh near the Dera Radha Swami Satsang Beas branch in Mohali on May 26, 2017.
According to the prosecution, a white Swift car stopped in front of Singh’s scooter. One of the occupants allegedly tried to hit him with an iron rod, while another fired two shots. Singh escaped and reached the judicial complex. Police later arrested Gurtej Singh, Varinder Singh and Jaspreet Singh alias Bamba.
The court found that Singh’s initial statement, recorded on the day of the incident, neither named the assailants nor provided descriptions sufficient to identify them. He named the accused about four months later and subsequently gave details, including the car’s registration number and his claim that he recognised one attacker after the man’s face covering fell.
The court also noted that two empty cartridges recovered from the scene were never sent for forensic examination to establish whether they had been fired from the pistol recovered from Varinder. The forensic laboratory found that the suspected hole in Singh’s scooter seat had not been caused by a firearm projectile.
{{/usCountry}}The court also noted that two empty cartridges recovered from the scene were never sent for forensic examination to establish whether they had been fired from the pistol recovered from Varinder. The forensic laboratory found that the suspected hole in Singh’s scooter seat had not been caused by a firearm projectile.
{{/usCountry}}“The most material link connecting the weapon of offence with the actual occurrence is, therefore, conspicuously absent,” the court observed.
It further found that WhatsApp chats cited by the prosecution did not establish who used one of the phone numbers or the meaning of the messages. People who allegedly provided Singh with information about the accused were also not examined as witnesses. The court held that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
Varinder was acquitted of attempt to murder, wrongful restraint and the Arms Act charge. Gurtej and Jaspreet were acquitted of attempted murder and wrongful restraint.
The separate conviction stemmed from the recovery of 13 discontinued ₹1,000 notes and 25 ₹500 notes, totalling ₹25,500, from a car in September 2017. Varinder was convicted under Section 7 of the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017.
Varinder told the court that he was a first-time offender, was unaware that retaining the notes was an offence and had no intention of using them. The court imposed a fine of ₹1,27,500 and ordered four months’ simple imprisonment in default of payment.