Chandigarh: Coop bank employee acquitted in Rs 18 lakh embezzlement case

A local court has acquitted Jaswinder Singh, a senior clerk in Chandigarh State Cooperative Bank, who was arrested in a 15-year-old cheating case, after prosecution failed to prove charges.

The police had registered the case for the offences punishable under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 477-A of the IPC on November 15, 2020, on the complaint of Sukhchain Singh, General Manager of Chandigarh State Cooperative Bank, Sector 22.

In the complaint, Sukhchain Singh had said on July 3, 2009, while checking the record of the Sector 26 branch, it was found that the accused had made numerous entries in the general ledger, which were forged and false and did not match with the day book entries. Discrepancies and forged entries were also found in the Burail branch, where the accused had worked earlier. It was alleged the accused misappropriated over Rs 18 lakh.

Finding a prima-facie case, charges were framed against the accused on September 20, 2021, to which he pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

Public prosecutor argued that the prosecution has duly proved the charges levelled against the accused by examining witnesses.

On the other hand, defence counsel Alisha Sharda and Anchal Jain argued that the accused has been falsely implicated and that the prosecution has failed to prove the charges against him.

The defence counsel further submitted that the prosecution has failed to bring on record the details of alleged deposits made by the accused in his own account or into the accounts of his relatives or family members of the alleged embezzled amount.

After hearing of the arguments, the court acquitted the accused.

The court said the prosecution had neither placed on record documents to show that the alleged embezzled amount had been deposited by the accused into his account or in the accounts of his relatives, nor it had been able to show that the amount had been deposited back with the complainant bank by the third persons on behalf of the accused.