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2024 DIGILAW 2229 (GUJ)

Shailesh Shanitlal Raval v. State Of Gujarat

2024-12-19

ILESH J.VORA, S.V.PINTO

body2024
JUDGMENT : (PER : HONOURABLE MS. JUSTICE S.V. PINTO) 1. This appeal has been filed by the appellant under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure against the judgement and order dated 04.12.2017 passed by the learned 10th Additional Sessions Judge, Ahmedabad (Rural) (hereinafter referred to as the “learned Trial Court”) in a common judgment passed in Sessions Case No. 43 of 2016 and Sessions Case No. 250 of 2016. 1.1 The appellant is the original accused of Sessions Case No. 43 of 2016 and co-accused Maganbhai Gopabhai Sheikh is the original accused of Sessions Case No. 250 of 2016. As both the Sessions cases arose out of the same FIR registered at ATS Police Station I – C. R. No. 04 of 2017, and after the chargesheet against the appellant was filed the co-accused Maganbhai Gopabhai Sheikh was arrested, a supplementary chargesheet was filed and an order to consolidate both the cases was passed below Exh. 10 preferred by the learned APP. The common evidence was recorded in both the cases and the learned Trial Court disposed off both Sessions Case No. 43 of 2016 and Sessions Case No. 250 of 2016 by a common judgment. 1.2 The appellant is referred to as the accused no. 1 as he stood in the judgment for the sake of convenience, clarity and brevity. 2. The brief facts of the case of the prosecution gathered from the record of the case are as under : 2.1 On 29.09.2015, at around 16:50 hours, the complainant PSI – C. R. Jadav received secret information that a person wearing a white jhabba and lengha and with black moustache, beard and long hair is selling fake currency notes which are in his possession and he was to come to the Bavla Sanand Crossroads to the State Bank of India in Akruti Arcade at around 9.00 pm. The complainant took other police officials and called two independent witnesses and drew the preliminary panchama and arranged for a watch at Aakruti Arcade on the Bavla Sanand Crossroads and the accused no. 1 was caught red handed with 102 fake currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each. The necessary panchnamas were drawn and the muddamal was sent to FSL Gandhinagar for analysis. 1 was caught red handed with 102 fake currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each. The necessary panchnamas were drawn and the muddamal was sent to FSL Gandhinagar for analysis. During investigation a colour printer, two fake currency notes and paper for printing the fake currency notes were recovered from a room in the possession of the accused no. 1 situated below Laxmi Narayan Temple at village Sayla. After due investigation the charge-sheets against both the accused were filed before the Court of the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Bavla and as the case was exclusively triable by the Sessions Court, Ahmedabad, a committal order was passed by the learned Judicial Magistrate First Class, Bavla under Section 209 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and the cases were registered as Sessions Case No 43 of 2016 and Sessions Case No.250 of 2016 respectively. 2.2 The accused appeared before the learned Trial Court and it was verified whether the provisions of Section 207 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was complied with and a charge was framed against the accused no. 1 at Exh. 2 and the statement of the accused was recorded at Exh. 3. The accused denied all the contents of the charge and the evidence of the prosecution was taken on record. The prosecution examined 19 witnesses and produced 27 documentary evidences in support of their case and after the learned APP filed the closing pursis at Exh. 82, the statements of the accused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were recorded wherein the accused denied all the evidence of the prosecution produced on record. The accused refused to step into the witness box or lead evidence and examine witnesses and after the arguments of the learned APP as well as the learned Advocates for the accused were heard, the learned Trial Court was pleased to find the accused no. 1 guilty for the offence under Sections 489A, 489B, 489C and 489D of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced the accused no. 1 guilty for the offence under Sections 489A, 489B, 489C and 489D of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced the accused no. 1 to imprisonment for life and fine of Rs 5000/- (Rupees Five Thousand only) and in default simple imprisonment for six months for the offence under Section 489A of the IPC, imprisonment for life and fine of Rs 2000/- (Rupees Two Thousand only) and in default, simple imprisonment for two months for the offence under Section 489B of the IPC, rigorous imprisonment for five years and fine of Rs 2000/- (Rupees Two Thousand only) and in default, simple imprisonment for one month for the offence under Section 489C of the IPC and imprisonment for life and fine of Rs 2000/- (Rupees Two Thousand only) and in default, simple imprisonment for two months for the offence under Section 489D of the IPC. The learned Trial Court further ordered all the sentences to run concurrently and the period of detention (if any) was to be given as a set off against the sentence. The learned Trial Court was pleased to grant benefit of doubt to the accused no. 2 - Maganbhai Gopabhai Sheikh. 3. Being aggrieved and dissatisfied with the judgement and order of conviction, the appellant has filed the present appeal mainly stating that the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the appellant beyond reasonable doubts and the entire case of the prosecution is based on circumstantial evidence. The recovery of the fake currency notes as also the recovery of the printer is not proved and the printer is not recovered from the premises of the applicant. During investigation, the other accused could not be traced and no charge could be framed against them and the panch witnesses have not supported the case of the prosecution and hence, the recovery of the fake currency notes from the possession of the appellant is not proved beyond reasonable doubts. The printer that has been recovered during investigation is an ordinary printer available in the market and there is no evidence to show that the premises from where the printer is recovered was in the possession of the appellant. The printer that has been recovered during investigation is an ordinary printer available in the market and there is no evidence to show that the premises from where the printer is recovered was in the possession of the appellant. The learned Trial Court has in para nine of the judgement recorded that the case of the prosecution is not supported by any independent witnesses and the independent panch witnesses have been declared hostile and the evidence is not substantiated and supported by any collateral reliable evidence to inspire confidence on the case of the prosecution. The impugned judgement and order is bad in law and is required to be quashed and set aside. 4. Heard learned Advocate Ms. Alka Vaniya for the appellant and learned APP Mr. Jay Mehta for the respondent State. We have perused the impugned judgement and order and the evidence of the prosecution on record of the case. 5. Learned Advocate Ms. Alka Vaniya for the appellant submits that there is no evidence as to how the complainant received the information and there are major contradictions in the evidence of the complainant. No test identification parade was carried out during investigation and no independent witnesses have supported the case of the prosecution. The witnesses that have supported the case of the prosecution are only police witnesses and there are contradictions in the deposition of the witnesses. The prosecution has not proved that the appellant had sold or used fake currency notes as genuine and hence, the case of the prosecution that the appellant was to supply the fake currency notes to some other person is not proved. The appellant has not used the fake currency notes as genuine and mere discovery of the printer after two days from a room below the temple does not implicate the appellant in the offence. The Investigating Officer has collected the mobile phones and the call detail records during investigation but it is not established that the conversation that had taken place in the mobile phones were for this offence. Learned Advocate further submits that the applicant has completed almost eight years in jail and considering the evidence on record, the sentence of the appellant may be reduced from life imprisonment to imprisonment for ten years. 6. Learned APP Mr. Learned Advocate further submits that the applicant has completed almost eight years in jail and considering the evidence on record, the sentence of the appellant may be reduced from life imprisonment to imprisonment for ten years. 6. Learned APP Mr. Jay Mehta has taken this court through the entire evidence of the prosecution on record and has submitted that the learned Trial Court has appreciated each and every evidence on record and the complainant and police witnesses have supported the case of the prosecution. The evidence clearly proves that the appellant was found with the fake currency notes and there is no reason to disbelieve the evidence of the witnesses of the prosecution. The printer on which the fake currency notes were printed has also been recovered during investigation and the prosecution has proved the case beyond reasonable doubts and learned APP has urged this Court to reject the appeal of the appellant. 7. Before we proceed to decide the appeal, it would be appropriate to refer to the observations of the Apex Court in Para 5 in the case of Lal Mandi V. State of West Bengal reported in 1995 Cri L J 2659 regarding the duty of the appellate Courts in hearing of appeals in conviction matters. 5. To say the least, the approach of the High Court is totally fallacious. In an appeal against conviction, the Appellate Court has the duty to itself appreciate the evidence on the record and if two views are possible on the appraisal of the evidence, the benefit of reasonable doubt has to be given to an accused. It is not correct to suggest that the "Appellate Court cannot legally interfere with" the order of conviction where the trial court has found the evidence as reliable and that it cannot substitute the findings of the Sessions Judge by its own, if it arrives at a different conclusion on reassessment of the evidence. The observation made in Tota Singh's case, which was an appeal against acquittal, have been misunderstood and mechanically applied. Though, the powers of an appellate court, while dealing with an appeal against acquittal and an appeal against conviction are equally wide but the considerations which weigh with it while dealing with an appeal against an order of acquittal and in an appeal against conviction are distinct and separate. Though, the powers of an appellate court, while dealing with an appeal against acquittal and an appeal against conviction are equally wide but the considerations which weigh with it while dealing with an appeal against an order of acquittal and in an appeal against conviction are distinct and separate. The presumption of innocence of accused which gets strengthened on his acquittal is not available on his conviction. An appellate court may give every reasonable weight to the conclusions arrived at by the trial court but it must be remembered that an appellate court is duty bound, in the same way as the trial court, to test the evidence extrinsically as well as intrinsically and to consider as thoroughly as the trial court, all the circumstances available on the record so as to arrive at an independent finding regarding guilt or innocence of the convict. An Appellate Court fails in the discharge of one of its essential duties, if it fails to itself appreciate the evidence on the record and arrive at an independent finding based on the appraisal of such evidence. The High Court failed to do so and its view is patently erroneous. Though this Court does not generally reappraise the evidence which has been considered by two courts below in an appeal by special leave but since the consideration of the evidence by the High Court was not proper, we have ourselves analysed the evidence on the record with the assistance of learned counsel for the parties. 8. In light of the above we have perused the evidence led by the prosecution on record of the case. 8.1 PW1 - Jigneshbhai Ashwinbhai Patel examined at Exh. 11 is the panch witness of the panchnama produced at Exh. 12 and in his deposition has stated that he was called at the ATS Police Station and the police officers and the other panch witness had gone to the road near Akruti Building in a Tata Sumo and an Indigo car. At that time one person was caught with currency notes of Rs.1000/- but he does not remember the number or colour of the currency notes and one mobile phone was also recovered. The witness has identified his signature on the panchnama produced at Exh. At that time one person was caught with currency notes of Rs.1000/- but he does not remember the number or colour of the currency notes and one mobile phone was also recovered. The witness has identified his signature on the panchnama produced at Exh. 12 and has stated that he could not clearly identify the muddamal currency notes as to whether they were the same that were recovered from that person or not. The witness has also not identified accused and has stated that at that time, a number of persons had gathered, and he could not identify the person who was arrested. 8.2 PW2 - Sunilkumar Vidhichand Prajapati examined at Exh. 20 is the other panch witness of the panchnama produced at Exh. 12 but he has not supported the case of the prosecution and has been declared hostile and nothing to support the case of the prosecution has come on record in his deposition. 8.3 PW3 - Dashrathsinh Dashubha Jadeja examined at Exh. 25 and PW4 - Pareshkumar Ishwarlal Mistry examined at Exh. 27 are the panch witnesses of the panchnama produced at Exh. 26, whereby, the Investigating Officer had taken the accused no. 1 to his residence which was a room below Laxmi Temple in Village Sayla and in the presence of the panch witnesses, a grey colour printer HP Deskjet 1050 Print Scan Copy Serial Number – CN 23V3401R and FPU No. 346–64001 Regulatory No. VC VRA – 1001 Product of China worth Rs.8002/-, currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each, one HP AC power adapter, two colour cartridges and 365 pink coloured blank papers were seized by the Investigating Officer during investigation. Both the panch witnesses have not supported the case of the prosecution and have been declared hostile and during the lengthy cross-examination by the learned APP, nothing has come on record to help the case of the prosecution. 8.4 PW5 - Amarsinh Rupabhai Palash examined at Exh. 28 is the Police Inspector, ATS Police Station who was a member of the watch party on the date of the incident and he has fully supported the case of the prosecution. 8.5 PW6 - Chetankumar Ratilal Jadhav is the complainant examined at Exh. 8.4 PW5 - Amarsinh Rupabhai Palash examined at Exh. 28 is the Police Inspector, ATS Police Station who was a member of the watch party on the date of the incident and he has fully supported the case of the prosecution. 8.5 PW6 - Chetankumar Ratilal Jadhav is the complainant examined at Exh. 29 and has fully supported the case of the prosecution and he has stated that on 29.09.2015, while he was at his office, he received secret information at 18:15 hours that a person wearing a white jhabba and lengha and with a black moustache, beard and long hair had fake currency notes in his possession and was coming to sell the fake currency notes at Akruti Arcade on the Bavla Sanand Crossroads. The complainant called two independent panch witnesses and drew the preliminary panchnama and a watch was arranged along with independent panch witnesses and the police officials at the Bavla Sanand Crossroads near Akruti Arcade Building. At around 21.00 hours, the person described in the FIR came and he was cordoned in front of the State Bank of India in Akruti Arcade and in the presence of the independent panch witnesses his identity was asked for and he was searched and 102 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each, a mobile phone and 06 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.100/- each were found. The 102 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each were new currency notes and mostly of the same serial number and the watermark of Gandhiji was not found on the currency notes. The paper of the currency notes were different and prima facie the currency notes appeared to be fake currency notes and the 06 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.100/- each were genuine currency notes. The FSL Officer was called at the spot and a primary opinion was given that the 102 currency notes were fake currency notes and the currency notes were seized and the panchnama was drawn. The complaint produced at Exh. 30 was filed by the complainant and the witness has identified all the muddamal and the accused no. 1. 8.6 PW7 - Shaileshkumar Laxmanbhai Oriya examined at Exh. 36 is the Scientific Officer, FSL and he has examined the currency notes and has submitted a report which is produced at Exh. 40. The complaint produced at Exh. 30 was filed by the complainant and the witness has identified all the muddamal and the accused no. 1. 8.6 PW7 - Shaileshkumar Laxmanbhai Oriya examined at Exh. 36 is the Scientific Officer, FSL and he has examined the currency notes and has submitted a report which is produced at Exh. 40. The witness has opined that the 102 currency notes were fake and the paper of the fake currency notes were similar to the papers sent for analysis, which, as per the case of the prosecution was recovered from the room of the accused no. 1. During the cross-examination, the witness has stated that he could not categorically state that the 102 fake currency notes were printed on the printer seized by the police. 8.7 PW8 - Mohammadzakir Adulaziz Sheikh examined at Exh. 42 is the Scientific Officer, who was on duty on the FSL Mobile Investigation Van on 29.09.2015 and he was called to give an opinion about the 102 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each at Akruti arcade compound near the state Bank of India by police inspector - HZ Solanki, ATS Ahmedabad and he was given a yadi and went to the spot and verified the currency notes and gave the report which is produced at Exh. 43. On verification of the currency notes, he found that the 102 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each were fake. During the cross-examination, the witness has stated that he did not use the UV lamp to verify the currency notes and he was at the spot from 22:30 hours to 23:45 hours. 8.8 PW11 - Dhiren Jayantilal Lariya examined at Exh. 55 is the Alternate Nodal Officer of Vodafone Mobile Services, PW12 Sajava Rupalanand examined at Exh. 57 is the Nodal Officer of Reliance Mobile Services, PW13 - Saurabhsingh Gurumitsingh examined at Exh. 59 is the Nodal Officer of Telenor Mobile Company, PW14 - Dixit Navnitlal Shah examined at Exh. 61 and PW15 - Mahendrabhai Hargovanbhai Patel examined at Exh. 62 are the Officers of BSNL Cellphone and PW15 - Pranav Mahendrakumar Amlani examined at Exh. 65 is the Nodal Officer of Bharti Airtel Limited. All the witnesses have produced the call detail records of various mobile numbers. 8.9 PW17 - Hemubhai Jinubhai Solanki examined at Exh. 61 and PW15 - Mahendrabhai Hargovanbhai Patel examined at Exh. 62 are the Officers of BSNL Cellphone and PW15 - Pranav Mahendrakumar Amlani examined at Exh. 65 is the Nodal Officer of Bharti Airtel Limited. All the witnesses have produced the call detail records of various mobile numbers. 8.9 PW17 - Hemubhai Jinubhai Solanki examined at Exh. 69 is the Investigating Officer who has investigated the offence and filed the chargesheet against the accused no. 1 and PW18 - Jayantilal Babulal Ghoghra examined at Exh. 77 is the PSO who registered the complaint of the complainant Chetankumar Ratilal Jadav and had sent the same for investigation to Police Inspector Hemubhai Jinubhai Solanki. 9. We have minutely examined the entire oral and documentary evidence produced by the prosecution and as per the complainant PW6 - Chetankumar Ratilal Jadhav he had received secret information regarding the custody of fake currency notes and that the person was to come to Akruti Arcade on the Bavla Sanand Crossroads to sell the currency notes and he called independent panch witnesses PW1 - Jignesh Ashwinbhai Patel and PW2 - Sunil Vidhichand Prajapati and along with other police officials, including PW5 - Amarsinh Rupabhai Palash, Police Inspector, ATS Police Station had prepared the preliminary panchnama and gone to the Bavla Anand Crossroads and arranged the watch at Akruti Arcade Building. While they were at the place of watch, the accused no. 1 came and he was cordoned near the State Bank of India in Akruti Arcade and while he was searched, 102 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each were found. The complainant immediately called PW8 - Mohammed Zakir Abdul Aziz Shaikh who was the Scientific Officer of the FSL Mobile Investigation Van and he checked the currency notes and gave a report that the 102 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each were fake. The currency notes were seized and the accused no. 1 was arrested from the spot and his mobile phone was also seized by the police. The offence was registered after the panchnama was drawn and during investigation, the Investigating Officer PW17 - Hemubhai Jinubhai Solanki took the accused no. 1 alongwith panch witnesses, PW3 - Dashratsinh Dasshubha Jadeja and Paresh Ishwarlal Mistry and searched the room of the accused no. The offence was registered after the panchnama was drawn and during investigation, the Investigating Officer PW17 - Hemubhai Jinubhai Solanki took the accused no. 1 alongwith panch witnesses, PW3 - Dashratsinh Dasshubha Jadeja and Paresh Ishwarlal Mistry and searched the room of the accused no. 1 and found the printer, adapter and paper, and all the muddamal including the 102 currency notes were sent to the FSL for analysis. The FSL Scientific Officer PW7 - Shaileshkumar Laxmanbhai Otiya examined the muddamal and submitted the report produced at Exh. 40 which states that the 102 currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each seized from the accused no. 1 on the spot were fake. As far as the printing of the currency notes is concerned, there is no conclusive evidence that the currency notes were printed on the same printer that was seized by the Investigating Officer. 10. The accused no. 1 is convicted for the offence under Sections 489A, 489B, 489C and 489D of the IPC and it would be fruitful to refer to the sections of the IPC at this juncture. Section 489A. Counterfeiting currency-notes or bank-notes. Whoever counter-feits, or knowingly performs any part of the process of counterfeiting, any currencynote or bank-note, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation.— For the purposes of this section and of sections 489B, 489C, 489D and 489E, the expression “bank-note” means a promissory note or engagement for the payment of money to bearer on demand issued by any person carrying on the business of banking in any part of the world, or issued by or under the authority of any State or Sovereign Power, and intended to be used as equivalent to, or as a substitute for money. Section 489B. Using as genuine, forged or counterfeit currency-notes or bank-notes.— Whoever sells to, or buys or receives from, any other person, or otherwise traffics in or uses as genuine, any forged or counterfeit currency-note or bank-note, knowing or having reason to believe the same to be forged or counterfeit, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. Section 489C. Section 489C. Possession of forged or counterfeit currency-notes or bank-notes.— Whoever has in his possession any forged or counterfeit currency-note or bank-note, knowing or having reason to believe the same to be forged or counterfeit and intending to use the same as genuine or that it may be used as genuine, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both. Section 489D. Making or possessing instruments or materials for forging or counterfeiting currencynotes or bank-notes.— Whoever makes, or performs, any part of the process of making, or buys or sells or disposes of, or has in his possession, any machinery, instrument or material for the purpose of being used, or knowing or having reason to believe that it is intended to be used, for forging or counterfeiting any currency-note or bank-note, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine. 10.1 In order to attract the offence under Section 489A of the IPC the prosecution must prove that the accused was knowingly performing some part of the process to counterfeit currency notes, and there must be convincing evidence produced by the prosecution that the accused had prepared the fake currency notes for circulation. Mere possession of fake currency notes from an accused is not sufficient to draw an inference that the currency notes were prepared or processed by the accused. If the prosecution proves that the accused had performed some part of the process of counterfeiting the currency notes, the provisions of section 489A of the IPC would be applicable. Section 489B of the IPC provides against trafficking in fake or counterfeit currency notes, and it provides that the accused knows or has reason to believe that the currency notes are fake or counterfeit. The knowledge or reason to believe is the mens rea for the offence under Section 489B of the IPC and to sustain the conviction under Section 489B of the IPC, the prosecution must not only prove that the currency notes were fake or counterfeit and that the accused had the possession of the fake or counterfeit currency notes and he had the intention to circulate the same in the public. To constitute the offence under Section 489C of the IPC, the prosecution has to prove that the currency notes were fake or counterfeit, the accused was in possession of the fake currency notes and he knew that the currency notes were fake and intended to use the same as genuine. The first and foremost ingredient is that the accused must possess the fake or forged currency notes and possession means conscious possession. For the offence under section 489D of the IPC, the prosecution must prove that the accused was involved in making or performing any part of the process of making the fake currency notes and he had instruments for making the fake currency notes and the instruments were used to make and process the fake currency notes. 11. The Apex Court in Ponnuswami V. State reported in 1995 Cri LJ 2658 has held that when forged currency notes were found from the possession of the appellant and the appellant had no explanation to offer as to where from he had obtained those forged currency notes, a conviction under Section 489B of the IPC deserves no alteration and the conviction can be maintained. 12. We have perused the evidence produced by the prosecution and find that there is no evidence that the accused was actually in possession of the room situated below Laxmi Narayan Temple in Sayla as the prosecution has not produced any evidence to show that the accused was the owner or the tenant of the room. The printer that has been seized from the room was sent to the FSL but there is no cogent, convincing and reliable evidence to prove that the counterfeit currency notes were processed and printed on any printer in the possession of the accused no. 1. The prosecution has proved that the accused was in possession of the 102 counterfeit currency notes and the accused no. 1 was found carrying those 102 counterfeit currency notes on a public road near State Bank of India in Akruti Arcade Building on the Bavla Sanand Crossroads and he was transporting the said fake currency notes when he was cordoned and searched by the the complainant and the police officials in the presence of the independent panch witnesses. The prosecution has proved that the accused no. The prosecution has proved that the accused no. 1 was transporting the fake currency notes and it is a case of active transportation of fake currency notes which would fall within the expression “traffics” counterfeit currency notes. Hence, the prosecution has proved the offence under section 489B and 489C of the IPC but as discussed above there is no evidence on record to show that the accused no. 1 had in fact processed or undertaken any act to make the counterfeit notes. 13. In view of the above, we find that the conviction of the appellant under Section 489A and 489D of the IPC is not sustainable but the conviction of the appellant under Section 489B and Section 489C of the IPC is affirmed. 14. The appellant has been awarded imprisonment of life for the offence under Section 489D of the IPC and it is true that the offence punishable under section 489B is punishable with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years. Imprisonment for life is the maximum sentence and we have perused the reasons recorded by the learned Trial Court to award the maximum sentence which is imprisonment for life and we find that the learned Trial Court has not given any reasons to award the maximum sentence. The learned Trial Court has merely considered the arguments of the learned APP who has submitted that as the case is proved beyond reasonable doubts, the maximum sentence must be awarded and accordingly, imprisonment for life has been awarded. Learned advocate for the appellant has fairly submitted that the appellant has completed more than eight years in jail and he is the bread winner of his family consisting of his wife, daughter and mother and his daughter is handicapped and hence, the sentence may be reduced from life imprisonment to imprisonment for 10 years. Learned advocate for the appellant has fairly submitted that the appellant has completed more than eight years in jail and he is the bread winner of his family consisting of his wife, daughter and mother and his daughter is handicapped and hence, the sentence may be reduced from life imprisonment to imprisonment for 10 years. We have also perused the jail remarks and find that the appellant has no antecedents and when the learned Trial Court has not recorded any reasons for avoiding the maximum sentence of life, we deem it fit that in the present matter, imprisonment for life is a very harsh sentence and considering the fact that 102 counterfeit currency notes of the denomination of Rs.1000/- each were found from the conscious possession of the appellant, the conviction of imprisonment for life under Section 489B is reduced to imprisonment of 10 years which would serve the ends of justice. 15. Consequently, the appeal is partly allowed to the extent that the conviction of the appellant under Sections 489A and 489D of the IPC are set aside and the conviction of the appellant under Sections 489B and 489C of the IPC are affirmed with the sentence of imprisonment for life for the offence under Section 489B altered to imprisonment for 10 years. 16. Registry is directed to send the R & P back to the learned Trial Court.