{"id":50227,"date":"1970-10-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-10-15T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/gopal-prasad-sinha-vs-state-of-bihar-on-16-october-1970"},"modified":"2015-05-22T09:41:48","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T04:11:48","slug":"gopal-prasad-sinha-vs-state-of-bihar-on-16-october-1970","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/gopal-prasad-sinha-vs-state-of-bihar-on-16-october-1970","title":{"rendered":"Gopal Prasad Sinha vs State Of Bihar on 16 October, 1970"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"docsource_main\">Supreme Court of India<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_title\">Gopal Prasad Sinha vs State Of Bihar on 16 October, 1970<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_citations\">Equivalent citations: 1971 AIR  458, \t\t  1971 SCR  (2) 619<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_author\">Author: S Sikri<\/div>\n<div class=\"doc_bench\">Bench: Sikri, S.M.<\/div>\n<pre>           PETITIONER:\nGOPAL PRASAD SINHA\n\n\tVs.\n\nRESPONDENT:\nSTATE OF BIHAR\n\nDATE OF JUDGMENT:\n16\/10\/1970\n\nBENCH:\nSIKRI, S.M.\nBENCH:\nSIKRI, S.M.\nDUA, I.D.\n\nCITATION:\n 1971 AIR  458\t\t  1971 SCR  (2) 619\n 1970 SCC  (2) 905\n\n\nACT:\nCriminal  Procedure  Code  (Act 5 of  1898),  s.  403-Issue-\nestoppel-- When applicable.\n\n\n\nHEADNOTE:\nThe appellant was tried under s. 409, I.P.C.,\t  for having\ncommitted criminal breach of trust during the period between\nJanuary\t 31,  1960 and November 30, 1960 while acting  as  a\ncashier.   He was put up for trial in a previous case  under\ns.  409,  I.P.C., for having committed\tcriminal  breach  of\ntrust during the period December 8, 1960 to August 17,\t1961\nand  in that case he was acquitted because it was held\tthat\nhe was not in charge of the cash.  On the question,  whether\non  the principle of issue-estoppel he should be  acquitted,\nbecause,  if he was not a cashier from December 8,  1960  to\nAugust\t17, 1961 he could not be held to be a  cashier\tfrom\nJanuary 31, 1960 to November 30, 1960.\nHELD  :\t The basic principle underlying the rule  of  issue-\nestoppel  is that the same issue of fact and law  must\thave\nbeen  determined  in the previous proceeding, that  is,\t the\nlatter\tfinding must necessarily be in contradiction of\t the\nprevious  determination.  In the present case, however,\t the\naccused\t was  never  appointed\tas  a  cashier,\t but  was  a\ntemporary  senior  accounts clerk who was- alleged  to\tbe\ndoing  the work of a cashier.  A person may be acting  as  a\ncashier at one period and may not be acting as a cashier at\nanother.   In  such  circumstances,  when  the\tperiods\t are\ndifferent,  there can be no such contradiction.\t  Therefore,\nthe  rule of issue-estoppel does not apply to the  facts  of\nthe case. [621 H; 622 A-C]\n\n\n\nJUDGMENT:\n<\/pre>\n<p>CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 212  of<br \/>\n1967.\n<\/p>\n<p>Appeal\tby  special  leave from the  uderstand\torder  dated<br \/>\nAugust 3, 1967 of the Patna High Courtin Criminal Appeal No.<br \/>\n389 of 1965 with Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No.\t1048<br \/>\nof 1969 from the judgment and order dated July 14, 1969,  of<br \/>\nthe  Patna  High Court in Criminal Misc.  No. 411  of  1969.<br \/>\nfrom  the  judgment and, order dated July 14, 1969,  of\t the<br \/>\nPatna Hi&amp; Court in Criminal Misc.  No. 411 of 1969.<br \/>\nS.   N. Prasad, for the appellant.\n<\/p>\n<p>B.   P. Jha, for the respondent.\n<\/p>\n<p>The Judgment of the Court was delivered by<br \/>\nSikri,\tJ. This appeal by special leave raises the  question<br \/>\nof  the\t applicability of the rule of  issue-estoppel.\t The<br \/>\nappellant,<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">620<\/span><br \/>\nGopal  Prasad  Sinha, was tried on a charge  under  s.\t409,<br \/>\nI.P.C., for having committed criminal breach of trust of Rs.<br \/>\n27,800\/during  the  period  between  January  31,  1960\t and<br \/>\nNovember  30, 1960, while acting as a cashier of the  Public<br \/>\nWorks  Department,  East  Division,  Gaya.   The   Assistant<br \/>\nSessions Judge framed three points for determination :\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\t      &#8220;1.  If the accused Gopal Prasad Sinha  was  a<br \/>\n\t      Public\t servant and was working as  cashier<br \/>\n\t      in the office of the Executive\t   Engineer,<br \/>\n\t      P.W.D., Gaya East Division, during  the period<br \/>\n\t      between 31-1-60 to 30-11-60 ?&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\t      2.    Whether   charge   amount\tnamely\t Rs.<br \/>\n\t      27,800\/-\twas entrusted to the accused  or  he<br \/>\n\t      had  dominion  over it in his  capacity  as  a<br \/>\n\t      public servant ?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>\t       3.   Whether  the accused committed  criminal<br \/>\n\t      breach  of  trust in respect  of\tthis  charge<br \/>\n\t      amount ?&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The  learned Assistant Sessions Judge, after  going  through<br \/>\nthe oral and documentary evidence, answered the first  point<br \/>\nin  the affirmative and held that the accused  was  handling<br \/>\nthe  cash  in the office during the aforesaid  period  as  a<br \/>\ncashier.\n<\/p>\n<p>On  point No. 2 the learned Assistant Sessions Judge,  after<br \/>\nconsidering the oral and documentary evidence, held :\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\t      &#8220;It  is proved that the accused was in  charge<br \/>\n\t      of one key of one of the locks of the door  of<br \/>\n\t      the iron chest of the office of the  Executive<br \/>\n\t      Engineer\tP.W.D., Gaya East Division.   It  is<br \/>\n\t      also proved that the accused was dealing\twith<br \/>\n\t      the cash of the Division and he was  receiving<br \/>\n\t      and  disbursing  money  of  the  Division.   I<br \/>\n\t      accordingly  hold\t that the charge  money\t was<br \/>\n\t      entrusted\t to the accused and the accused\t had<br \/>\n\t      dominion\t over  the  charge  amount  of\t Rs.<br \/>\n\t      27,800\/-\twhile acting as cashier\t of  P.W.D.,<br \/>\n\t      Gaya East Division.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>On point No. 3 he held that &#8220;the accused made entries in the<br \/>\ncash  book showing remittance of the charge amount  to\tsub-<br \/>\ndivisions  Nos.\t 2  and 3 but the  same\t were  not  actually<br \/>\nremitted  by  the  accused nor they were  received  in\tsub-<br \/>\ndivision Nos. 2 and 3.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>The point of issue-estoppel was raised before him, the point<br \/>\nbeing  that  the accused was put up on trial in\t a  previous<br \/>\ncase  under  s. 409, I.P.C., for having\t committed  criminal<br \/>\nbreach\tof trust with respect to certain amounts during\t the<br \/>\nperiod December 8, 1960 to August 17, 1961, and in that case<br \/>\nthe High Court had acquitted the accused holding that he was<br \/>\nnot in<br \/>\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">621<\/span><br \/>\ncharge\tof the cash.  The learned Assistant  Sessions  Judge<br \/>\nheld that the aforesaid finding of the High Court could\t not<br \/>\noperate as a res judicata.\n<\/p>\n<p>The  High Court, on appeal in the present case,\t upheld\t the<br \/>\nfindings  of fact of the learned Assistant  Sessions  Judge.<br \/>\nThe High Court also repelled the argument regarding rule  of<br \/>\nissue estoppel thus :\n<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\t      &#8220;In  the\tearlier case out of  which  criminal<br \/>\n\t      appeal  40 of 1963 arose, the defalcations  in<br \/>\n\t      question\twere alleged to have been  committed<br \/>\n\t      by the present appellant in his capacity as  a<br \/>\n\t      cashier during the period 8-12-60 to  17-8-61.<br \/>\n\t      As  such, the point in issue in that case\t was<br \/>\n\t      whether  the  accused, that  is,\tthe  present<br \/>\n\t      appellant, was the cashier and was incharge<br \/>\n\t      of  the cash during the aforesaid period.\t  In<br \/>\n\t      the present case, however, the defalcations in<br \/>\n\t      question\tare alleged to have  been  committed<br \/>\n\t      during an altogether different period, namely,<br \/>\n\t      31-1-60 to 30-11-60 and the point in issue  in<br \/>\n\t      the present case is whether the appellant\t was<br \/>\n\t      the cashier of the division and was in  charge<br \/>\n\t      of  the  cash during this\t particular  period.<br \/>\n\t      The finding of fact as given in the  aforesaid<br \/>\n\t      appeal  that the appellant was not  a  cashier<br \/>\n\t      and was not in charge of the cash must be held<br \/>\n\t      as  being operative for the period 8-12-60  to<br \/>\n\t      17-8-61 during which the defalcations  forming<br \/>\n\t      the  subject  matter of the  aforesaid  appeal<br \/>\n\t      were  alleged to have been committed  and,  as<br \/>\n\t      such, those findings cannot in any way operate<br \/>\n\t      under  the  principle  of\t issue-estoppel\t  to<br \/>\n\t      preclude\t the   prosecution   from   adducing<br \/>\n\t      evidence\tin the subsequent case, that is,  in<br \/>\n\t      the  present case, to show that the  appellant<br \/>\n\t      was  the\tcashier of the division and  was  in<br \/>\n\t      charge  of the cash during the period  31-1-60<br \/>\n\t      to 30-11-60.&#8221;\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The  learned counsel for the appellant contends\t that  subs-<br \/>\ntantially  it was the same issue that was  tried  during-the<br \/>\nearlier\t trial, and if the accused was not the cashier\tfrom<br \/>\nDecember 8, 1960 to August 17, 1961, he could not be held to<br \/>\nbe a cashier from January 31, 1960 to November 30, 1960.  He<br \/>\nsaid  that the defence in both the cases was  identical\t and<br \/>\nthe evidence also almost the same.\n<\/p>\n<p>In  our\t opinion, the High Court came to  the  correct\tcon-<br \/>\nclusion.  The basic principle underlying the rule of  issue-<br \/>\nestoppel  is that the same issue of fact and law  must\thave<br \/>\nbeen  determined in the previous litigation.   The  question<br \/>\nthen  arises  :\t Was it the same issue\tof  fact  which\t was<br \/>\ndetermined in the earlier<br \/>\n62 2<br \/>\ncase ? A person may be acting as a cashier at one period and<br \/>\nmay not be acting as a cashier at another period, especially<br \/>\nas  in this case it was found that the appellant  had  never<br \/>\nbeen  appointed\t as a cashier.\tHe was\ta  temporary  senior<br \/>\naccounts  clerk\t who was alleged to be doing the work  of  a<br \/>\ncashier.  If there is any likelihood of facts or  conditions<br \/>\nchanging   during   the\t  two  periods\t which\t are   under<br \/>\nconsideration  then  it\t is  difficult\tto  say\t that the<br \/>\nprosecution  would  be bound by the finding  in\t a  previous<br \/>\ntrial  on a similar issue of fact.  It seems to us that\t the<br \/>\nlater  finding must necessarily be in contradiction  of\t the<br \/>\nprevious determination.\t There can be no such  contradiction<br \/>\nif  the periods are different and the facts relating to\t the<br \/>\ncarrying on of the duties of a cashier are different.<br \/>\nThe  learned  counsel has referred to a number of  cases  of<br \/>\nthis  Court  where  the\t rule  of  issue-estoppel  has\tbeen<br \/>\napproved;  e.g. Pritam Singh v. State of Punjab(1);  <a href=\"\/doc\/1432787\/\">Manipur<br \/>\nAdministration v. Thokchom Bira Singh<\/a> (2) ; State of  Andhra<br \/>\nPradesh v. Kokkiligada Meeraiah(3); and <a href=\"\/doc\/357519\/\">Assistant  Collector<br \/>\nof  Customs  v.\t L. R. Malwani<\/a>(4), but these  cases  do\t not<br \/>\nsupport\t the  contention  of the  learned  counsel  for\t the<br \/>\nappellant.\n<\/p>\n<p>It  appears  that the appellant surrendered on\tDecember  1,<br \/>\n1961, and in Sessions Trial No. 90 of 1962 he was  sentenced<br \/>\nto  five years&#8217; rigorous imprisonment.\tHe  started  serving<br \/>\nhis  sentence on November 15, 1962.  His appeal to the\tHigh<br \/>\nCourt  was  allowed on October 5, 1964,\t and  thereafter  he<br \/>\nremained  in  prison  as an  undertrial\t prisoner.   In\t the<br \/>\npresent\t case  he  was\tsentenced  to  six  years&#8217;  rigorous<br \/>\nimprisonment  and  a fine of Rs. 25,000\/- or in\t default  to<br \/>\nundergo further imprisonment for 18 months.<br \/>\nIn the circumstances given above we consider the sentence of<br \/>\nsix years in the present case as excessive and reduce it to<br \/>\nrigorous  imprisonment\tfor three years, and a fine  of\t Rs.<br \/>\n25,000\/or in default further imprisonment for 18 months.<br \/>\nIn the result the appeal is partly allowed in the matter  of<br \/>\nsentence,   as\t stated\t above.\t  Special   Leave   Petition<br \/>\n(Criminal) No. 1048 of 1969 is accordingly dismissed.\n<\/p>\n<pre>V.P.S.\t\t\t\t\t     Appeal   partly\nallowed.\n(1)  A.I.R. 1956 S.C. 415.\n(2)  (1964) 7 S.C.R. 123.\n(3)  [A.I.R] 1970 S.C. 771.\n(4)  [A.I.R.] 1970 S.C. 962.\n<span class=\"hidden_text\">623<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court of India Gopal Prasad Sinha vs State Of Bihar on 16 October, 1970 Equivalent citations: 1971 AIR 458, 1971 SCR (2) 619 Author: S Sikri Bench: Sikri, S.M. PETITIONER: GOPAL PRASAD SINHA Vs. RESPONDENT: STATE OF BIHAR DATE OF JUDGMENT: 16\/10\/1970 BENCH: SIKRI, S.M. BENCH: SIKRI, S.M. DUA, I.D. CITATION: 1971 AIR 458 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-supreme-court-of-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gopal Prasad Sinha vs State Of Bihar on 16 October, 1970 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; High Court | Legal India<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.legalindia.com\/judgments\/gopal-prasad-sinha-vs-state-of-bihar-on-16-october-1970\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gopal Prasad Sinha vs State Of Bihar on 16 October, 1970 - Free Judgements of Supreme Court &amp; 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