Circumstantial evidence and inadmissible investigative reports could not sustain convictions for alleged cheating and corruption.

The prosecution failed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the accused conspired to commit cheating, corruption and falsification of records in the jungle-clearance works. Mere breaches of departmental instructions, codal provisions and irregularities in work nomination, estimates, agreements and bills did not prove criminal intent, especially where witnesses admitted some work had been done and later site inspections could not reliably fix the quantity of work done years earlier. Technical reports prepared by a departmental officer during investigation were inadmissible as substantive expert evidence. The circumstantial evidence did not form a complete chain pointing only to guilt, so the convictions and sentences were unsustainable and acquittal followed.

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Issues: Whether the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the appellants conspired to commit cheating, corruption and falsification of records in the jungle-clearance works, and whether the technical reports prepared during investigation could be used as substantive evidence.

Analysis: The case rested entirely on circumstantial evidence. The material showed breaches of departmental instructions, codal provisions and irregularities in nomination of work, preparation of estimates, agreements and bills, but those lapses by themselves did not establish criminal intent. The evidence did not conclusively prove that no jungle-clearance work had been done, and several witnesses admitted that some work had in fact been carried out. The site inspections conducted years later could not reliably determine the quantum of work done in 1979-80. The technical reports prepared by the departmental officer assisting the investigation were held to be inadmissible, being part of the police investigation record and not substantive expert evidence. On the settled rule governing circumstantial evidence, the proved facts did not form a complete chain pointing only to guilt.

Conclusion: The prosecution failed to prove the charged offences beyond reasonable doubt. The convictions and sentences were unsustainable and the appellants were entitled to acquittal.

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