TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2014 (7) TMI 1140
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....e of Gujarat against the very same judgment 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 n....
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.... appellant-Iqbal Wadiwala. The arms and ammunition 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 Stat....
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....C, 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 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 an....
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....4 r/w 120B IPC, s. 3(b) & 5 of Explosive Substances Act r/w s. 120B IPC and 25(1) A of Arms Act. A11 10 years RI s. 3(2)(i) of TADA r/w 120B IPC, 5 of TADA, s. 302 r/w 120B IPC, s. 3(b) & 5 of Explosive Substances Act and 25(1) A of Arms Act. LI for 20 years 9. Appearing for the appellants Mr. Sushil Kumar, learned Senior Counsel, strenuously argued that the trial and conviction of the appellants for offences with which they were charged is vitiated for breach of the mandatory provisions of Section 20-A (1) of The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA). That provision 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 ....
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....A (1). 11. Before we deal with the contentions urged at the bar we need to sail smooth on the facts relevant to the registration of the two FIRs. The first case relevant to the blast at Mini Hira Bazar, Varaccha Road, led to registration of C.R. No.32 of 1993 not only for commission of offences under the IPC and Explosive Substances Act but also under TADA. Almost one year after the registration of the FIR, on 24th January, 1994 the Police Commissioner, Surat instructed Varaccha Police Station to remove the TADA provision from C.R. No.32 of 1993. These instructions came in the wake of a decision taken by the TADA Review 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, ....
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....ollowing passage appearing in the letter dated 13th April, 1995 addressed by the investigating officer to the designated Court: " K.C. Parmar, P.S.I. of Action Group hereby reports that:- Section 3(1)(2)(3)(4) and Section 5 of TADA Act have been added in Surat Railway P.St. O.Reg. No. I 70/93 u/sec 307, 326, 324, 427, 120B of IPC and U/sec 3,5,7 of Explosive Substances Act. According to the new provisions of TADA Act, sanction of Additional Police Commissioner Range-2 Surat City has been obtained which is enclosed herewith the case papers. Hence this is to inform you that Sections 3(1)(2)(3)(4) and Section 5 of TADA Act have been added in this offence which please note. Date: 14.4.95 Sd/ - Illegible &....
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....e Received Copy (K.K. Chaudasma) Sd/- Illegible Assistant Police Commissioner Jr. Clerk G. Division, Surat City" 15. It is in the light of the above evident that in C.R.No.32 of 1993 approval for recording of information regarding commission of offences under the TADA came directly from the Home Department of the Government of Gujarat. In C.R. No.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 Ac....
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....trict Superintendent of Police would amount to such other authority clutching at the jurisdiction of the designated officer, no matter such officer or authority purporting to exercise that power is superior in rank and position to the officer authorised by law to take the decision. 19. Thirdly, because if the Statute provides for a thing to be done in a particular manner, then it must be done in that manner alone. All other modes or methods of doing that thing must be deemed to have been prohibited. That proposition of law first was stated in Taylor v. Taylor (1876) 1 Ch. D426 and adopted later by the Judicial Committee in Nazir Ahmed v. King Emperor AIR 1936 PC 253 and by this Court 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 pres....
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.... Bombay. The order passed by the Commissioner was quashed on the ground that the authorities concerned had vested the power to cancel in the Commissioner alone who was bound to exercise the same himself and bring to bear on the matter his own independent and unfettered judgment instead of acting at the instance of, any other party. This Court borrowed support for that view from the following passage by Wade and Forsyth in 'Administrative Law', 7th Edition Page Nos.358-359 under the heading 'SURRENDER ABDICTION, DICTATION' and sub- heading 'power in the wrong hands': "Closely akin to delegation, and scarcely distinguishable from it in some cases, is any arrangement by which a power conferred 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 so....
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....under Section 465 of the Code. This Court observed: "34. Section 465 of the Code, which falls in Chapter 35, covers cases triable by a Court of Session also. Hence, the prosecution can take shelter behind Section 465 of the Code. But Section 465 of the Code shall not be a panacea for all error, omission or irregularity. Omission to grant prior approval for registration of the case under TADA by the Superintendent of Police is not the kind of omission which is covered under Section 465 of the Code. It is a defect which goes to the root of the matter and it is not one of the curable defects." 25. This Court also rejected the argument that grant of sanction in terms of Section 20-A(2) of the Act rendered 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 inc....