TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2014 (7) TMI 1140
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....ent have been acquitted. In Criminal Appeals No.432-33 of 2009 the State has sought enhancement of the sentence awarded to those convicted by the Trial Court. 2. In Criminal (TADA) case No.59 of 1995 and 2 of 2000 arising out of C.R. No.32 of 1993 the Designated Court has similarly convicted some of the accused persons who are (appellants before us in Criminal Appeals No.110 of 2009 and 659 of 2009). The State has also assailed in the appeals filed by it the judgment of the Trial Court and sought enhancement of the sentence awarded to those convicted by it in Criminal Appeals No.303-304 of 2009. 3. The facts giving rise to the registration of I.C.Rs. No.32 and 70 of 1993 at Varccha and Surat Railway Police Stations in the State of Gujarat respectively leading to the arrest of those accused of committing the offences and their eventual conviction by the Trial Court have been set out at great length by the said Court below in the two judgments and orders impugned before us. We need not, therefore, recapitulate the entire factual backdrop in which the appellants were tried, found guilty and sentenced except to the extent it is absolutely necessary to do so. Suffice it to say that th....
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....on supplied by Abdul Latif (since deceased) were then placed in the secret chamber of the vehicle and transported to Surat. The prosecution alleges that the arms and ammunition to be used were kept at different places for use to wreak vengeance against the majority community. The blasts that took place on 28th January, 1993 at Mini Hira Bazar, Varccha Road, Surat and at Surat Railway Station on 22nd April, 1993 were, according to the prosecution, the culmination of the conspiracy hatched by the accused and the efforts made by them including their active participation in the sordid sequence leading up to grievous injuries to several persons including the killing of an innocent child. 6. The prosecution further alleges that investigation into the crime by the Surat Railway Police did not lead to the apprehension of the real culprits. This forced the Director General of Police of the State of Gujarat to constitute an Action Group for inquiry and investigation into the crime. In the course of investigation by the Action Group, one Mushtaq Patel was apprehended on 12th March, 1995 in connection with a case registered in Umra Police Station under the Arms Act. In the course of interroga....
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.... r/w 120B IPC, 5 of TADA, s. 302 r/w 120B IPC, s. 3,4,5 of Explosive Substances Act and 25(1) A of Arms Act. 20 years RI 2 Iqbal Wadiwala A2 92 of 2009 and 110 of 2009 s. 3(2)(ii) of TADA r/w 120B IPC, 5 of TADA, 307, 326, 325 and 324 r/w 120B IPC, s. 3,4,5 of Explosive Substances Act and 25(1) A of Arms Act. 10 years RI s. 3(2)(i) of TADA r/w 120B IPC, 5 of TADA, s. 302 r/w 120B IPC, s. 3,4,5 of Explosive Substances Act and 25(1) A of Arms Act. 20 years RI 3 Mohamma d Gulam @ Mohamma d Surti A3 92 of 2009 and 110 of 2009 s. 3(2)(ii) of TADA r/w 120B IPC, 5 of TADA, 307, 326, 325 and 324 r/w 120B IPC, s. 3,4,5 of Explosive Substances Act and 25(1) A of Arms Act. 10 years RI s. 3(2)(i) of TADA r/w 120B IPC, 5 of TADA, s. 302 r/w 120B IPC, s. 3,4,5 of Explosive Substances Act and 25(1) A of Arms Act. 20 years RI 4 Mustaq Ibrahim Patel A4 92 of 2009 and 110 of 2009 s. 3(2)(ii) of TADA r/w 120B IPC, 5 of TADA, 307, 326, 325 and 324 r/w 120B IPC, s. 3,4,5 of Explosive Substances Act and 25(1) A of Arms Act. 10 years RI s. 3(2)(i) of TADA r/w 120B IPC, 5 of TADA, s. 302 r/w 120B IPC, s. 3,4,5 of Explosive Substances....
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....rovision it was contended required approval of the District Superintendent of Police for recording of any information about the commission of an offence punishable under the said Act. No such approval was, however, either sought from or granted by the District Superintendent of police concerned. Approval for recording of the information was instead obtained from the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Government of Gujarat who had no power to grant the same under the Act. So also the purported approval from the Additional Police Commissioner, Surat was of no legal effect as the power to grant such approval vested only in the District Superintendent of Police and could not be exercised by the Additional Commissioner of Police or anyone holding an equivalent rank. The power to grant approval being a sina qua non for recording of any information about the commission of any offence under the Act, absence of such approval was according to Mr. Sushil Kumar sufficient by itself to vitiate any trial that was held in breach of the said provision. Reliance in support of that submission was placed by Mr. Kumar upon several decisions of this Court including one in Aniruddhsinhji Jadej....
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.... Committee in its meeting held on 24th January, 1994. The instructions were carried out and TADA offences deleted from the two cases in hand. Subsequent to the deletion of TADA from C.R. No.32 of 1993, a request was made by P.C. Pandey Police Commissioner, Surat to the Home Department, Government of Gujarat for re-application of the provisions of TADA. The Police Commissioner pointed out that a Russian made hand grenade was used in the blast. Approval for re-application of TADA provisions was pursuant to the said request granted by the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Government of Gujarat on 12th May, 1995 and intimated to the Additional Commissioner of Police, Surat. In his letter dated 8th May, 1995, the Police Commissioner, Surat City sought approval for reintroduction of TADA provisions in the following words: "In the offence registered at Varacha Police Station, explosion was done by a Russian made grenade which was revealed when accused were arrested in Surat Railway P.St. O. Reg. No.I 60/93. Hence it is required that in Varacha Police Station I O.Reg. No. 32/93 sections of 302, 307, 324, 326, 120(B) of I.P.C. and Sections 3,4,5 of Explosives Substances Act and ....
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....ed in this offence which please note. Date: 14.4.95 Sd/ - Illegible (K.C.Parmar) P.S.Inspector ....
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.....70 of 1993 relating to the second blast that took place at Surat Railway Station, the State Government and the Additional Police Commissioner, Surat city approved the application of the provisions of TADA. 16. What falls for determination is whether these approvals can be said to be sufficient compliance with the provisions of Section 20-A of TADA that reads as under:- "20-A Cognizance of offence. Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code, no information about the commission of an offence under this Act shall be recorded by the police without the prior approval of the District Superintendent of Police. No court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act without the previous sanction of the Inspector-General of Police, or as the case may be, the Commissioner of Police." 17. A careful reading of the above leaves no manner of doubt that the provision starts with a non obstante clause and is couched in negative phraseology. It forbids recording of information about the commission of offences under TADA by the Police without the prior approval of the District Superintendent of Police. The question is whether the power of approval vested in the District Superintendent....
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....urt in a series of judgments including those in Rao Shiv Bahadur Singh & Anr. v. State of Vindhya Pradesh AIR 1954 SC 322, State of Uttar Pradesh v. Singhara Singh and Ors. AIR 1964 SC 358, Chandra Kishore Jha v. Mahavir Prasad & Ors. 1999 (8) SC 266, Dhananjaya Reddy v. State of Karnataka 2001 (4) SCC 9 and Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. V. Essar Power Ltld. 2008 (4) SCC 755. The principle stated in the above decisions applies to the cases at hand not because there is any specific procedure that is prescribed by the Statute for grant of approval but because if the approval could be granted by anyone in the police hierarchy the provision specifying the authority for grant of such approval might as well not have been enacted. 20. In Anirudhsinhji & Anr. v. State of Gujarat (1995) 5 SCC 302 relied upon by Mr. Sushil Kumar, this Court was dealing with a fact situation where a case was registered initially under the Arms Act. The District Superintendent of Police had instead of giving approval for recording information himself made a report to the Additional Chief Secretary asking for permission to proceed under TADA. The Deputy Director General and Additional Director General of Polic....
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....ed upon one authority is in substance exercised by another. The proper authority may share its power with some one else, or may allow some one else to dictate to it by declining to act without their consent or by submitting to their wishes or instructions. The effect then is that the discretion conferred by Parliament is exercised, at least in part, by the wrong authority, and the resulting decision is ultra vires and void. So strict are the courts in applying this principle that they condemn some administrative arrangements which must seem quite natural and proper to those who make them.... Ministers and their departments have several times fallen foul of the same rule, no doubt equally to their surprise..." 22. Anirudhsinhji (supra) was followed in Manohar Lall (dead) by Lrs. V. Ugrasen (dead) by Lrs. and Ors. (2010) 11 SCC 557 where the question that fell for consideration was whether the State Government, exercising revisional power under U.P. Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973, could take up the task of a lower statutory authority. Relying upon the view taken in Anirudhsinhji case (supra) this Court observed: "23. Therefore, the law on the question can be summarised t....
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.... the infirmity in the approval under Section 20-A(1) inconsequential. This Court held that the two provisions operate in different and distinct stages and that both the requirements have to be complied with for a successful prosecution. The following passage is in this regard apposite: "37. Both operate in different and distinct stages and, therefore, for successful prosecution both the requirements have to be complied with. We have not come across any principle nor are we inclined to lay down that in a case in which different safeguards have been provided at different stages, the adherence to the last safeguard would only be relevant and breach of other safeguards shall have no bearing on the trial. Therefore, we reject the contention of the State that the accused cannot assail their conviction on the ground of absence of approval under Section 20-A(1) of TADA by the Deputy Commissioner, when the Commissioner of Police had granted sanction under Section 20-A(2) of TADA." 26. In two subsequent decisions rendered by this Court in Mohd. Iqbal M. Shaikh & Ors. v. The State of Maharashtra (1998) 4 SCC 494 and Manjit Singh @ Mange CBI, through its SP: (2011) 11 SCC 578 a slightly libe....