PRAMOD BHANUDAS SOUNDANKAR versus STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

Citation: [2012] 11 S.C.R. 199 · Decided: 30-11-2012 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: B.S. CHAUHAN, J.S. KHEHAR · Disposal: Case Partly allowed
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Judgment (excerpt)

[2012] 11 S.C.R. 199 
PRAMOD BHANUDAS SOUNDANKAR 
v. 
STATE OF MAHARASHTRA 
(Criminal Appeal No. 1960 of 2012) 
NOVEMBER 30, 2012 
[DR. B.S. CHAUHAN AND JAGDISH SINGH 
KHEHAR, JJ.] 
A 
B 
Penal Code, 1860 - ss. 411 and 412 - Dacoity by 10 
accused - Stolen property (4 kg silver) sold to appellant-
C 
accused (jeweller) - Conviction of appellant-accused by 
courts below u/ss. 411 and 412 - On appeal, plea that 
appellant-accused, at the most could be convicted uls. 411 
and not 412 as he did not know whether the accused selling 
the silver, belonged to a gang of dacoits - Held: The evidence 
D 
that the appellant had known or had reason to believe that the 
silver chips were stolen property, would be sufficient only to 
establish his guilt u/s. 411 - Courts below have not recorded 
a finding that the accused was aware that the silver chips 
presented to him were procured by commission of dacoity or E 
that he knew or had reason to believe that presenter of the 
silver chips belonged to a gang of dacoits - Therefore, 
conviction u/s. 412 set aside - Sentence of punishment 
reduced to 1 year RI and fine of Rs. 10001-. 
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal 
F 
No.1960 of 2012. 
From the Judgment & Order dated 13.6.2012 of the High 
Court of Judicature at Bombay bench at Aurangabad in 
Criminal Appeal No. 260 of 2011. 
G 
Jayant Bhushan, Shivaji M. Jadhav, Brijkishor Sah, Anish 
R. Saha for the Appellant. 
199 
H 
200 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
(2012] 11 S.C.R. 
A 
Sanjay Kharde, Asha Gopalan Nair for the Respondent. 
The following Order of the Court was delivered 
ORDER 
B 
1. Leave granted. 
2. Six persons wearing black clothes, entered the house 
of Rameshchandra Sawarmal Bagdiaya, situated at Akola 
Road, Hingoli, on the night intervening 17th and 18th July,.2009, 
C at about 1 am, after breaking open the main gate. At the time 
of the break in, Rameshchandra Sawarmal Bagdiaya and his 
wife Kirandevi were at the residence. Having threatened 
Rameshchandra Sawarmal Bagdiaya and his wife, the 
assailants demanded keys to an "almirah" (storage cabinet) in 
the premises. Rameshchandra Sawarmal Bagdiaya informed 
D them, that the keys were in the drawer of a table in their room. 
Having recovered the keys from the drawer, the intruders 
opened the "almirah". From the "almirah", they took away gold 
and silver ornaments besides cash. In addition, they took three 
gold finger-rings and a gold chain from the person of 
E Rameshchandra Sawarmal Bagdiaya, and a gold 
"mangalsutra" (wedding chain) and gold bangles from the 
person of Kirandevi. 
3. From the statement made by Rameshchandra 
F Sawarmal Bagdiaya, it came out, that the assailants collectively 
took away three gold finger-rings, one "mangalsutra", one gold 
locket, two gold bangles, two ear-tops, one gold bar weighing 
three tolas (30 grams), one ladies finger-ring, two "patlyas· 
(thick bangles), a number of silver chips weighing 1 kilogram 
G each, 150 silver coins and Rs.1,93,000/- cash. 
4. In the process of solving the crime, Vishwanath Gavali 
was the first to be arrested by the investigating officer. 
Vishwanath Gavali, disclosed the names of some others, 
involved in the incident. Thereafter, in November, 2009, three 
H accused Hanuman Kale, Ganesh Kale and Kathalu alias Sigret 
PRAMOD BHANUDAS SOUNDANKAR v. STATE OF 201 
MAHARASHTRA 
were arrested. In January of the following year, Khetrya was 
A 
also apprehended. On information furnished by him, Roshan 
alias Dhonya and Kiran, were arrested in February, 2010. 
These arrests led to the disclosure of the identity of the owner 
of the car used in the crime. Thereupon Shaikh Javed, the car 
owner was arrested. Shivaji Kale was the last to be arrested 
B 
from amongst the intruders. 
5. Even though Shivaji Kale (accused no. 8) had disclosed 
the name of Sanjay alias Kaliya as one of their associates in 
the crime, he could not be arrested, as he was absconding. He 
C 
was, however, arrested after the submission of the chargesheet, 
whereupon a supplementary chargesheet was filed implicating 
Sanjay alias Kaliya. 
6. The aforesaid ten accused were allegedly responsible 
for the dacoity. One of them, Shivaji Kale (accused no. 8) 
D 
disclosed, during the course of investigation, that he had stolen 
four silver chips (weighing 1 kilogram each) from the residence 
of Rameshchandra Sawarmal Bagdiaya, and had sold the 
same to Pra;r.rid Bhanudas Soundankar, a jeweller. The four 
si1ver chips stolen by the a
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