JUDGMENT : Ishan Chandra Das, J. This criminal appeal has been directed against the judgment and order of conviction, passed by learned Additional Sessions Judge, Fast Track Court – II, Jangipur, Murshidabad, in Sessions Serial Case No. 458 of 2013 (Sessions Trial Case No. 3 of December, 2013) where learned Trial Court found the appellant guilty of the offence punishable under Section 489C of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 5 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 5000/-, in default to suffer simple imprisonment for 3 months, subject to set off in terms of Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. 2. Briefly stated, the case of the prosecution, as revealed from the First Information Report (Exhibit – 1), is that on 31st day of May, 2013 while the de facto complainant, Sub-Inspector Pradip Kr. Mishra of Farakka Police Station, (District – Murshidabad), being accompanied by some police personnel while on petrol duty, got information from a secret source that one local rowdy was moving in a suspicious manner after getting down from a Malda bound vehicle and he was apprehended by the de-facto complainant and he disclosed his name as Swadhin Ghosh of Bagdabra (P.S.-Farakka) and the de-facto complainant seized 42 pieces of Fake Indian Currency Notes, found from the right side pocket of his inner wear (Jangia). On interrogation he confessed that he was trying to introduce those fake Indian Currency notes as genuine in Jharkhand area and the appellant further admitted that he was waiting for any Bagdabra bound vehicle. The police arrested him at the spot, beside Koshalpur Bridge on N.H. 34, seized those fake notes on preparation of a seizure list in presence of the witness and ultimately he was brought before learned trial Court to answer the following charges:- “First, – That on 30.05.2013 at about 23:55 hours at Khosalpur bridge beside N.H. 34 under P.S. Farakka 42 numbers of fake Indian Currency Notes of Rs. 500/- (five hundred) denomination each were brought by you for delivering the same to supply in other states knowing or having reason to believe the same to be forged and that you thereby committed an offence punishable U/S 489B within the cognizance of this Court. 500/- (five hundred) denomination each were brought by you for delivering the same to supply in other states knowing or having reason to believe the same to be forged and that you thereby committed an offence punishable U/S 489B within the cognizance of this Court. Secondly – That on the same time, same place and same date you had in your possession forged Indian Currency Notes (I.C.N.), to wit, 42 numbers of fake Indian Currency Notes (I.C.N.) of Rs. 500/-(five hundred) denomination each amounting to Rs. 21 thousand knowing or having reason to believe the same to be forged and intending to use the same as genuine and that you thereby committed an offence punishable U/S 489C of IPC within the cognizance of this Court.” 3. The substance of accusation was read over and explained to the accused/appellant in Bengali language to which he pleaded not guilty and obviously he claimed to be tried. 4. In course of such trial, learned trial Court examined 9 witnesses altogether and on conclusion of trial, he found the appellant not guilty of the offence punishable U/S 489B of the IPC but found him guilty of the offence punishable U/S 489C of the code, convicted him & sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment and to pay fine, as noted earlier. 5. Assailing the judgment and order of conviction, the present appeal has been preferred mainly on the following grounds:- (1) The order of conviction and sentence were bad in law and not maintainable either in fact or in law. (2) Learned Trial Court failed to appreciate the defence case, in its proper perspective and accepted the prosecution’s case arbitrarily and thereby caused failure of justice. (3) Learned Trial Court failed to appreciate the evidence of hostile witnesses and registered the order of conviction against his client on the basis of surmise and conjecture and the same is liable to be set aside. (4) Learned Trial Court also failed to appreciate the defence of the appellant as revealed from his statement while he was examined in terms of Section 313 Cr.P.C. (5) Learned Trial Court caused miscarriage of justice by placing reliance upon the police-witnesses and not giving any importance to the local private witnesses with regard to seizure of the so-called fake currency notes. 6. 6. Now, the point left for decision before this Court is – whether Learned Trial Court was justified in holding the appellant guilty of the offence as complained of, punishable U/S 489C of the code and liable for conviction accordingly. 7. Learned Counsel for the appellant at the very outset submitted that the appellant was held guilty of the offence punishable U/S 489C of the code on the strength of the oral testimony of the policemen who should not be treated as reliable witnesses due to the fact that they were all interested witnesses. Drawing my attention to provision of Section 489C of the code, he pointed out that mere possession of the Fake Indian Currency Notes (F.I.C.N.) was the very essence of the offence punishable under the above noted Section 489C of the code but learned Court below convicted his client on the strength of such witnesses who belonged to police personnel and it would be dangerous for the society if an accused is convicted only on the strength of police witnesses particularly when all the 3 local witnesses did not support the version with regard to search and seizure on behalf of the prosecution and all of them turned hostile. Clarifying the provisions of Section 489C of the code, he pointed out the prosecution was under legal obligation to establish beyond doubt that the appellant was in conscious possession of the fake notes with an intention to use the same as genuine. In this context, he relied on a decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in Umashanker Vs. State of Chattishgarh, reported in AIR 2001 SC 3074 , and pointed out that mere possession of fake currency notes would not be sufficient to constitute the offence punishable U/S 489C in the absence of ‘mens rea’ and the prosecution failed to establish that the incumbent, against whom a charge U/S 489C was framed had been in possession of such currency notes or bank notes knowing or having reason to believe to be forged or counterfeit and intending to use the same as genuine or that it may be used as genuine. Relying on a decision of a Division Bench of this Court in Roney Dubey Vs. Stae of West Bengal, reported in 2008 (1) CHN at page 883, he pointed out that the prosecution did not produce any evidence to show that the appellant was counterfeiting currency notes. Relying on a decision of a Division Bench of this Court in Roney Dubey Vs. Stae of West Bengal, reported in 2008 (1) CHN at page 883, he pointed out that the prosecution did not produce any evidence to show that the appellant was counterfeiting currency notes. Further placing relying on the decision of this Court in Roney Dubey Vs. State of West Bengal (supra) he also pointed out that mere possession of fake notes cannot be said to be sufficient to constitute the offence or it cannot be said that the allegation of the offence punishable U/S 489C in proved. To advance his argument ld. Counsel for the appellant emphatically submitted with reference to a decision of this Court in Md. Muktarul Islam @ Suman Vs. State of West Bengal, reported in (2014) 2 Cal LT 260 (HC), and opined that it was the duty of the prosecution to prove the allegation beyond reasonable doubt and any departure from it would reasonably exclude the appellant from conviction. To fortify his argument in this respect, he urged that learned trial Court placed reliance on the police witnesses and convicted his client improperly but did not place reliance on the evidence of the local witnesses who disproved the appellant’s possession of such fake notes- he added. To conclude his argument he further relied on a decision of a Division Bench of Hon’ble Gujrat High Court, in Raju Madhu Chopda Vs. State of Gujrat, reported in 2008 Law Suit (Guj) 2150, and pointed out, as the prosecution could not produce G.D. entry before leaving police station for attending the raid, seizure cannot be said to have been proved beyond doubt and ultimately he opined that his client deserved an order of acquittal but he has been convicted on some unjustified grounds, being the outcome of defective investigation. 8. 8. His learned counterpart representing the State of West Bengal/respondent herein, with reference to the statements of the witnesses, particularly the evidence of PWS 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 & 9, submitted that those witnesses being the members of the raiding party were categorical in describing the situation, prevailed at the place of seizure and the appellant was found in a suspicious manner and there was a source information that one person was moving near the above-noted bridge with some fake Indian Currency Notes in his pocket and those were seized by the police party holding raid at the place of seizure at the material time. Drawing my attention to the oral testimony of the de-facto complainant (PW-4), he pointed out the process of apprehending the appellant, who was caught at Khosalpur bridge, took place while he was moving there suspiciously. Pointing out the relevant statement of the said witness (PW-4), he urged that this witness was categorical it stating what prompted him to come to the place where he found the appellant with 42 fake Indian Currency Notes of Rs. 500/- denomination and those were seized there in presence of the local witness Khabir Sk. (PW-5) and Azaharul Islam (PW-6). With all fairness, learned Public Prosecutor in course of his impressive argument pointed out that any irregularity or even illegality during investigation should not be treated as a ground to reject the prosecution’s case. He further relying on a decision of Hon’ble Chattishgarh High Court in Reman @ Ramen and another Vs. State of Chattishgarh, reported in 2008 cri L.J. 4755, pointed out that the appellant possessed fake notes to the tune of Rs. 21,000/- though no explanation was offered by the defence that he had the capacity to possess such a huge amount or he had the capability to earn such amount from any legally recognized profession. Accordingly, he opined that the appellant being in conscious possession of those fake notes, was liable for punishment according to the provisions of Section 489C of the code, and placing reliance on the decision of the Hon’ble Apex Court in Umashanker Vs. State of Chattishgarh (supra), he urged that an order of dismissal would be the only fate of the instant appeal. 9. The de-facto complainant Sub-Inspector Pradip Kr. State of Chattishgarh (supra), he urged that an order of dismissal would be the only fate of the instant appeal. 9. The de-facto complainant Sub-Inspector Pradip Kr. Mishra (PW-4) while proving the written complaint (Exhibit-1) and the seizure list (Exhibit-2) categorically stated that on 30th day of May, 2013, while he was posted as Sub-Inspector of police of Farakka P.S. and was performing his night mobile duty being accompanied by the designation of the PWS 1, 2 & 3 namely C/46/ Goutam Sen, C/837/Kanak Kumar Choudhury and NVF/68399 Karna Kumar Singha, got an information, rushed to Khoshalpur bridge and found the appellant roaming there. The de-facto complainant also stated that he then apprehended the appellant herein and on search, 42 Fake Indian Currency Notes of Rs. 500/- denomination were recovered from his inner pocket as noted earlier, with a view to delivering the same for supplying those in the State of Jharkhand. It is also evident from the oral testimony of the other police personnel, who claimed themselves to be the ocular witnesses of search and seizure, categorically corroborated the statement of the de facto complainant (PW-4). The local witnesses (PWS 5, 6 & 7) named Abdul Khabir, Azharul Islam & Obaidur Rahaman respectively did not corroborate the statement of the de facto complainant and turned hostile to the prosecution’s case stating that they knew nothing about the alleged incident of search and seizure but two of them admitted that they put signatures in the Seizure List (Exhibit-2), at the instance of the de-facto complainant. It is surprising to note that these two local witnesses Abdul Khabir (PW-5) & Azharul Islam (PW-6) could not deny the fact that they put their signatures on all the 42 notes seized from the inner pocket of the appellant, out of which two such notes have been marked Exhibits 1(a) & 1(b). Drawing my attention to the oral testimony of Sub-Inspector Ranjit Das (PW-9), the Investigation Officer of this case, learned Public Prosecutor pointed out that the seized notes were sent to the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt. Ltd. at Salbani and on examination those notes of Rs. 500/- denomination were found ‘fake notes’. 10. In the background, as discussed earlier, we can place reliance at the police-witnesses PW-1 to 4 who categorically stated on solemn affirmation that the appellant was in possession of Rs. 500/- denomination were found ‘fake notes’. 10. In the background, as discussed earlier, we can place reliance at the police-witnesses PW-1 to 4 who categorically stated on solemn affirmation that the appellant was in possession of Rs. 21,000/- fake notes (42 such fake notes of Rs. 500/-denomination), since it is settled that police witnesses cannot be disbelieved simply because they were policemen but their evidence should be carefully scrutinized. In the case in hand, I find nothing substantial in cross-examination of those police-witnesses which may entail rejection of their testimony, rather if we take their evidence with a shadow of doubt, the offender of a serious offence would be the major beneficiary and the society would be the casualty. In this context, reliance can be placed on a decision of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Anil @ Andya Sadashiv Nandoskar Vs. State of Maharashtra, reported in AIR 1996 S.C. 2943 . Accordingly, taking into consideration the facts and circumstances as manifested in the oral testimony of all the corroborating witnesses, I am of opinion that learned Court below did not commit any mistake rather he rightly placed reliance on the oral testimony of those police-witnesses. Mr. Keshari, learned Public Prosecutor-in-charge, appearing for the state, in course of his argument pointed out that the appellant was in conscious possession of the fake notes, since he failed to justify the fact that he was entitled to have possession of huge amount of Rs. 21,000/-. The trend of cross-examination of the prosecution’s witnesses never suggested that the appellant rightly possessed those notes without having knowledge of possessing those as ‘fake notes’. Hence, such possession can be termed as possession with a ‘mens rea’ as propounded in Umashanker Vs. State of Chattisgarh (supra). 11. Learned trial Court in the impugned judgment categorically discussed the evidence on record and found the appellant not guilty of the offence punishable U/S 489B but found him guilty of the offence punishable U/S 489C of the IPC, convicted him in terms of Section 235 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure and sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 5 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 5000/- in default to suffer simple imprisonment for 3 months more but the substantive sentence was subjected to set off in terms of Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. 5000/- in default to suffer simple imprisonment for 3 months more but the substantive sentence was subjected to set off in terms of Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. It is pertinent to mention here that “an economic offence is committed with cool calculation and deliberate design with an eye on personal profit regardless of its consequence to the community” - as observed by the Hon’ble Apex Court in State of Gujrat Vs. Mohanlal Jitamalji Porwal, reported in AIR 1987 Supreme Court 1321. Since the appellant became a part and parcel of the community of the economic offender, I am unable to take a liberal view in the matter rather I firmly hold that learned trial Court was correct in his approach and an order of dismissal of this appeal would be appropriate to meet the ends of justice. Since learned trial Court imposed punishment proportionate to the gravity of the offence committed by the appellant herein, the judgment and order of conviction passed by learned Court below do not require interference and those stand affirmed. The bail bond furnished on behalf of the appellant stands cancelled. He is directed to surrender before the trial Court within one month from the date of this order to serve out the remaining part of the sentence and to pay fine imposed on him accordingly. 12. Let a copy of this order be sent to the learned Court below along with the LCR at once, for necessary compliance. Urgent Photostat certified copy of this judgment, if applied for, shall be supplied to the advocates for the parties upon compliance with all formalities.