New Delhi: Two persons, found in possession of Rs Rs 1.80 lakh counterfeit currency notes for trafficking, have been sentenced to seven years in jail with the court observing that such offences "vitiate" the country's economy.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 each on Delhi resident Mohammad Jamal and Uttar Pradesh native Mohammad Jafar, who were apprehended by the city Police red-handed in April 2009 while trying to sell two fake currency notes of rs 1,000 for one genuine note of same denomination.
"The offences of counterfeiting currency notes for using them as genuine, trafficking in them and possessing them are offences of grave nature and cannot be lightly viewed.
"Such offences vitiate the economy of the country and are a matter of serious concern. They are rarely detected and all that is ultimately proved is perhaps the tip of an iceberg," District Judge P S Teji said, sentencing the duo.
The police had booked the duo for the offences under section 489B of IPC (using as genuine, forged or counterfeit currency notes) which entails up to life imprisonment and 489C of IPC (possession of forged or counterfeit currency notes) which provides for a maximum of seven years of jail term.
The prosecution had produced seven witnesses to prove its case. It had told the court that on convicts' frisking, 178 fake currency notes of Rs 1,000 each and one genuine currency note of the same value were recovered and they were trying to sell the fake ones at half of their printed value.
"It has been established that accused were found in possession of fake currency notes and they were trafficking in the same. The recovery of counterfeit currency notes from accused has also been established beyond reasonable doubt," the court noted while convicting them.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 16:22