NON GOAN MAN GETS 2 YEARS IMPRISONMENT IN COUNTERFEIT NOTES CASE

Assistant sessions court, Panaji sentenced Dulal alias Babu Rai, a native of West Bengal, to rigorous imprisonment for two years on charges of possessing counterfeit currency notes with face value of Rs. 1.89 lakh at Ponda in 2008. The prosecution had alleged that following a tip off , the police had conducted a personal search of the accused on October 10, 2008 and found him in possession of 278 currency notes of 500 denomination with face value of Rs 1.39 lakh. Subsequently, the next day, the police conducted a raid in his room and seized 100 counterfeit notes of 500 denominations with face value of Rs 50,000 and also attached genuine notes of Rs 20,000. During the hearing of the case, a witness also deposed and alleged that the accused had offered to sell him fake notes with face value of Rs 50,000 in exchange for cash of Rs 10,000. Police inspector Manjunath Dessai submitted the evidence against the accused before the court. The public prosecutor, Pratima Vernekar, argued that the accused had committed a serious offence by trying to sell the fake notes. She also sought an order from the court to forfeit the genuine currency notes of Rs 20,000, attached from the accused, in favour of the government. Assistant sessions judge, Irshad Aga, held that there is ample evidence on record to show that the accused intended to use the fake currency notes. "Recovery of so many notes from his personal search and from his residence are circumstances which comply to infer that the accused intended to use the said notes as genuine". the judge observed. While convicting and sentencing him under section 489C of Indian Peanl Code , the judge ordered forfeiture of the genuine notes worth Rs 20,000 in favour of the government while holding that offences pertaining to fake currency notes are on the rise and "such offences are to be dealt with a heavy hand".