Mumbai: A businessman from Nepean Sea Road has been acquitted in a fake currency case eight years after being booked. The case dates back to November 2016 when citizens were directed to return the demonetised currency to banks. However, the sessions court noted that the prosecution could not prove that the notes were actually deposited by the businessman.
As per the case registered with Gamdevi police station, on November 28, 2016, an employee of MB Shah Exports deposited Rs60 lakh into the account of the firm’s director Hemang Shah, the accused. The person was informed that the currency would be verified within seven days and the bank would contact him in case of a discrepancy.
The next day, the bank manager contacted the firm and said that seven notes of Rs 500 denomination and three notes of Rs 1000 denomination were fake. It was claimed that the cash collector, Urmika Unnikrishnan, had seized the fake notes and prepared receipts and impressed a seal on them. Shah was called to the bank, but he refused to turn up. Instead he sent currency to replace the fake notes.
On January 10, 2017, the bank manager lodged a police complaint against Shah. During the trial, the prosecution examined only two witnesses, the bank manager and the investigating officer. The sessions judge BD Shelke, however, found that “no cogent and reliable evidence” was brought on record.
The court noted that the prosecution had failed to examine the cashier who had collected the notes and seized them. “The adverse inference that can be drawn for not examining such material witness is that the accused has no nexus with the alleged fake currency note transfer into the bank account maintained with Kotak Mahindra Bank, as alleged by the prosecution,” the court said.
