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Mohali: Court acquits 4 in 12-yr-old PUNSUP wheat scam case
The accused faced trial in a case registered on March 7, 2014 by the vigilance bureau, flying squad-1, Mohali, under Sections 409, 201 and 120-B of the IPC and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act
A local court has acquitted four former Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation (PUNSUP) officials in the 12-year-old alleged ₹2.56-crore wheat embezzlement case. The court held that the vigilance bureau failed to prove any misappropriation, basing its investigation on “Ambiguous and inconclusive” physical verification and audit reports while ignoring crucial records that could have established the actual stock position.
The accused faced trial in a case registered on March 7, 2014 by the vigilance bureau, flying squad-1, Mohali, under Sections 409, 201 and 120-B of the IPC and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The acquitted individuals include PUNSUP district manager Indermohan Singh, field officer Rajiv Soni, public distribution clerk Gurmeet Singh and PUNSUP center Kharar in-charge Sunil Kumar.
The prosecution alleged that during the 2013-14 procurement season, 28,065 wheat bags worth ₹2.37 crore and stock articles worth ₹19.82 lakh went missing from PUNSUP storage centres at Kharar, causing a loss of ₹2.56 crore to the corporation.
However, while acquitting all four accused, the court held that the prosecution failed to establish that any wheat entrusted to the accused had actually been misappropriated.
The court observed that the entire prosecution rested on physical verification reports and an audit report that themselves recorded that the “Actual difference could not be ascertained” because updated records were unavailable when the verification was carried out.
It further held that the audit report was prepared based on these inconclusive verification reports and that neither the auditors nor the investigating officers physically verified the stock before concluding that wheat had been embezzled.
The court also found that investigators ignored the movement of wheat between July 1 and the dates of physical verification in July 2013, despite evidence showing that grain was continuously dispatched under various government schemes.
Significantly, the court noted that the prosecution failed to examine the BE-8 register, maintained at the district headquarters and updated every month with stock statements received from storage centres. According to the judgment, entries in the register showed 31,005 wheat bags during July 2013, indicating no shortage and suggesting the dispute appeared to be one of stock reconciliation rather than embezzlement.
The court further noted that investigators failed to explain how such a large quantity of wheat requiring more than 100 trucks for transportation could have been removed without leaving any evidence. No recovery of wheat or sale proceeds was made from any accused, nor did the investigation establish where the alleged missing stock had gone.
On the allegation that former district manager Indermohan Singh had removed stock registers, the court found no convincing evidence. A key prosecution witness denied having seen him take away the records, while another prosecution witness admitted that stock registers had in fact been seen during physical verification.
The court also held that allegations regarding missing stock articles such as crates and tarpaulins were not proved, noting that the physical verification report itself recorded that many crates were lying in heaps and could not be counted accurately.
Holding that the prosecution had “Miserably failed” to prove embezzlement, criminal misconduct or destruction of records beyond reasonable doubt, the court acquitted all four accused by giving them the benefit of doubt.
