Court sets aside conviction of National Heart Institute's accountant for embezzling ₹55 lakh

NEw new delhi, A margaret court hither has go under apart a magistrate's order sentencing a former accountant of the National Heart Institute here to three years imprisonment for embezzling ₹55 lakh, saying there was no incriminating material against him. Additional Sessions Judge Lovleen was hearing the appeal of accused Sachin Suri against the magisterial court's order of March 2024, sentencing him to three years of simple imprisonment under Indian Penal Code section 408. In its order dated April 4, the court said, "The case of the prosecution is that at the relevant date and time, the employer of the accused discovered that the accused, being an accountant, has failed to deposit a sum of ₹55 lakh in the bank account of his employer. "The employer of the accused claims that the accused has embezzled the said sum and thereby committed a criminal breach of trust," according to the order. It noted that the prosecution's case hinged entirely upon the oral testimony of an accounts officer, S K Shailly, who deposed about having discovered some discrepancy in the institute's bank account, upon which inquiries were made, and revealed that 11 entries in the account showed a shortfall of ₹55 lakh. The court said Shailly had identified 11 entries in the statement to sustain the charges against Suri, but his testimony had to be "discarded summarily" as the said entries were in the form of a printout, without being supported by a certificate under Section 65 B of Indian Evidence Act. The section deals with the admissibility of electronic records as evidence, mandating a certificate to confirm its authenticity. While trashing the "bare accusation", the court said no evidence was shown to prove that Suri received a particular amount from the institute on or before the date of the 11 entries. "Admittedly, prosecution has not placed any document or register on record which reflects any acknowledgement by the accused regarding the receipt of any amounts from the employer, which were required to be deposited in the bank account of the employer on the days when the said 11 entries were made," the court said. It said there were also no witnesses to prove that any amount was handed over to the accused. "The relevant deposit slips were forwarded to Forensic Science Laboratory , Rohini for forensic analysis as to the handwriting available on the same. However, the FSL report is inconclusive in nature," the court said. It said that the institute's bank account statement was independently insufficient to prove Suri's guilt as the 11 entries merely depicted the transactions carried out in the account. "Even the audit report is liable to be discarded for multiple reasons. Firstly being the fact that the prosecution has not bothered to prove the said report as per law the person who prepared the said report was never examined during the course of trial and; secondly on the ground that the covering letter of the said report itself states that the same may not be treated as an audit opinion as it has not been prepared in accordance with the generally accepted auditing standards," the court said. It observed that there was no "incriminating material" to prove the charges. "The prosecution has miserably failed to prove entrustment of property, in this case cash sum of ₹55 lakh, with the accused by his employer. That being so, conviction could not be sustained, and as such, the judgment of conviction and sentence are hereby set aside," the court said. The Amar Colony Police Station had registered an FIR against the accused, based on Shailly's complaint. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.