36 years on, court discharges two from fake US dollars case

“The evidence produced on record is not sufficient for proceeding against the accused in the absence of the original documents,” said additional sessions judge RB Rote

MUMBAI: Thirty-six years after they were booked for possession of 12 counterfeit $100 notes, the sessions court on Monday discharged two men after finding that the investigating officer of the case had died, two main witnesses were untraceable, and the original reports received from the US treasury about the fake bills were missing, along with the case record.

36 years on, court discharges two from fake US dollars case

“The evidence produced on record is not sufficient for proceeding against the accused in the absence of the original documents,” said additional sessions judge RB Rote while discharging Ramsingh Kisansingh Thakur, a Nepalese national, and Mumbai resident Cliford Santana Fariya, of all the charges levelled against them.

The crime branch had apprehended Thakur at MRA Marg in Mumbai on August 29, 1989, after receiving a tip-off about a person carrying fake currency notes. Thakur was allegedly carrying 12 $100 notes in the right back pocket of his pants. Fariya was arrested after Thakur allegedly revealed during his interrogation that he had supplied the fake US currency notes to him.

The notes allegedly seized from Thakur were sent for a forensic examination to the US Treasury through the American consulate in Mumbai. The US Treasury examined the notes and reported them to be counterfeit.

In this backdrop, the court dropped all the charges against the duo, as the two people who had witnessed the seizure from Thakur were also untraceable, and the prosecution was unable to secure the presence of any material witness. The court discharged the duo, saying the case had been pending for around 36 years, and it was not proper to keep it pending any further.