Holding

The Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s acquittal of Jaspal Singh, restored his conviction under Section 3(1)(c) of the Official Secrets Act and Section 120B IPC, and modified the sentence to the period already served.

Summary

The Government of NCT of Delhi appealed the Delhi High Court’s acquittal of Jaspal Singh (A4) for offences under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and Section 120B IPC. The Supreme Court held that the High Court had misapplied the law, especially the evidentiary value of a co‑accused’s confession and the statutory presumptions under Sections 3(2) and 4 of the Official Secrets Act. The Court found ample material evidence, including possession of a classified Defence Telephone Directory, to prove Singh’s participation in a conspiracy to obtain and transmit secret defence information to a foreign intelligence agency. Consequently, the Court set aside the acquittal, restored the conviction, and modified the sentence to reflect the time already served. The appeal was allowed with modification of the imprisonment term.

Issues considered

The admissibility and evidentiary weight of a co‑accused’s confession under Sections 10 and 30 of the Indian Evidence Act.
Whether possession of a secret document alone satisfies the elements of Section 3(1)(c) of the Official Secrets Act, 1923.
Whether the High Court erred in interpreting the statutory presumptions under Sections 3(2) and 4 of the Official Secrets Act.
Whether the High Court’s findings were perverse or erroneous warranting Supreme Court interference under Article 136.
The appropriate quantum of sentence considering the period already spent in custody.

Legislation cited

Arms Acts. 25
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973s. 313
Indian Evidence Act, 1872s. 10, s. 30
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 120B
Official Secrets Act, 1923s. 3, s. 4, s. 5, s. 9
Punjab Excise Acts. 61

Subjects

Official Secrets Actconspiracyco‑accused confessionevidentiary valuestatutory presumptionnational securitySupreme Court reviewsentence modificationpossession of secret documents

Judgment

THE GOVERNMENT OF NCT OF DELHI A
V.

)ASPAL SINGH

AUGUST 8, 2003

[DORAISWAMY RAJU AND H.K. SEMA, JJ.] B

Official Secrets Act, 1923-Sections 3, 5 and 9/Penal Code, 1860-
Section 120B/Punjab Excise Act-Section 61/Arms Act-Section 25/Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973-Section 313:
c
Charges against four accused under the Official Secrets Act/Other Acts-
Conviction by the trial Court-Acquittal of two of the accused by the High
Court-Confession of co-accused-Evidentiary value-Criminal conspiracy-
Proof of-Held: Confession ofan accused not a substantive evidence to convict
other t~an its maker-Court may accept other evidence but not relying upon · D
them-However, confession of co-accused could fortify its belief to act upon
the other evidence-When common object of the conspiracy was to do an
unlawful act, specification of such act would suffice to prove the charges and
it would be unnecessary to substantiate the means to achieve it-Since all the
accused operated as a we/I-knit group aimed at collecting vital secret
information/documents and passing them to foreign intelligence A4 as a member E
of such group become a party to the common design of other accused
members-Moreover, mode of consideration/method of proof for offence
committed under the Official Secrets Act cannot be on the line ofcrime under
the Penal Code-Presumption has to be drawn from facts-Hence, accused
rightly convicted by the trial Court-Held, Order ofacquittal ofA4 set aside- F
However, under the facts and circumstances ofthe case, the sentence modified
to the one already undergone by him-Evidence Act, 1872-Sections J0 and
30.

Practice and Procedure:
G
Appeal-Appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court-Held: When
findings of the High Court are erroneous, perverse and results in miscarriage
ofjustice/reversal of verdict under a total misconception of the principles of
law/facts proved, it is appropriate for the .Supreme Court to interfere with the
decision of the High Court.
335 H
336 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A Four persons, including respondent (A4), were tried for collecting
secret information/documents relating to military and defence matters and
allegedly passing on the same to a foreign country. They were found guilty
of committing offences under Sections 3, 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets
Act, Section 120B IPC, Section 61 of the Punjab Excise Act and Section
B 25 of the Arms Act; convicted and sentenced by the trial ~ourt
accordingly. On appeal, High Court affirmed the conviction and sentence
against accused Nos. 1 and 2 but acquitted accused Nos. 3 and 4. Hence,
the present appeal by the State against the order of acquittal of accused
Nos. 3 and 4. In the meanwhile, A3 was reported dead, resulting in
abatement of appeal against him.
c It was contended for the State that misconstruing the scope of
Sections 10 and 30 of the Indian Evidence Act, the High Court reversed
the order of conviction; and that the High Court overlooked the material
evidence supporting conviction of A4 with other accused conspirators.

D On behalf of the respondent, it was submitted that since the findings
of acquittal by the High Court was based upon sound reasoning/correct
appreciation of law, it warranted no interference by the Supreme Court
under Article 136 of the Constitution of India; that since the confession
of a co-accused is not admissible as substantive evidence against the others
and on raising doubts about the manner of recovery of the secret
E documents from the possession of the accused, acquittal of the respondent
was fully justified.

Allowing the appeal with modification of the sentence, the Court

HELD: 1.1. There is no such general rule t~at Supreme Court in an
F appeal cannot interfere with the opinion of the High Court, though the
scope and reasons for such interference may vary from cases otherwise
coming by way of a regular appeal. Though this Court does not convert
itself into a Court to review the evidence for a third time by grant of special
leave, where the High Court is shown to have completely failed in
G appreciating the true effect of the materials brought on record and its
findings are erroneous, perverse and result in miscarriage of justice, the
Supreme Court will have no hesitation to interfere, all the more so when
the High Court has chosen to reverse a verdict of conviction recorded by
the trial Judge, under a total misconception of the principles of law as
well as the vital and essential facts proved. (342-F, G, HJ
H
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI v. JASPAL SINGH 337

1.2. No doubt, in law the confession of a co-accused cannot be treated A
as substantive evidence to convict,, other than the maker of it, on the
evidentiary value of it alone. But, it has often been reiterated that if on
the basis of the consideration of other evidence on record the Court is
inclined to accept the other evidence, but not prepared to act on such
evidence alone, the confession of a co-accused can be pressed into service B
to fortify its belief to act on it also. Once there are sufficient materials to
reasonably believe that there was concert and connection between persons
charged with a common design - it is in1material as to whether t~ey were
strangers to each other or ignorant to the actual role of each of them or
that they did not perform any one or more of such acts by joint efforts in
unison. In the instant case, the High Court not only misconstrued the C
relevant principles of law but also is found to have gone amiss totally to
the relevant and vital aspects of the materials and appears to have arrived
at conclusions patently against weight of evidence, resulting in grave
miscarriage of justice. (343-G, H; 344-A, C, D]

Sama Alana Abdulla v. State of Gujarat, (1996] 1 SCC 427, relied on. D
State ofMaharashtra v. B.K. Subba Rao and Anr., (1993] Crl. L.J. 2984
and Natwar/al Sakarlal Mody v. The State of Bombay, (1961) 65 Born. L.R
660 SC, held inapplicable.

1.3. The High Court seems to have committed grave error in E
completely overlooking well-settled principles and omitting to draw the
necessary and reasonable conclusions flowing from the clinching and
trustworthy evidence produced which sufficiently proved the guilt of the
respondent, as rightly concluded by the trial Court. As against the
elaborate consideration of the roles of each one of the accused, operating F
as well-knit group aimed at collecting vital data relating to militancy
affairs and defence matters pertaining to the Government of India and
communicating and passing on of such documents/information to the U.S.
intelligence. So far as respondent-A4 is concerned, the Defence Telephone
Directory, a classified document restricted for use, was recovered from
the premises, which admittedly was being used by A4 for his residence G
and business. There is sufficient evidence on record to prove that this
Directory was issued to PW14 and A3 used to now and then visit and use
the same with the permission of PW14, that thereafter it was missing from
PW14 and ultimately found in the wooden Almirah in the house of A4.
That apart, PW49 seems to have deposed that A4 himself opened the H
338 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2003) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A wooden Almirah with a key and therefrom took out ExtPW14/A from
inside. This was found to be corroborated by the evidence of other
prosecution witnesses as well. The other documents, which were also
recovered from the wooden Almirah such as invitation and Vi~ing Cards,
were found to be indicative of his contact and communion with foreign
B agents in India. Though, the respondent would deny all such, there is no
reason to doubt the clinching, truthful and cogent evidence of all such
persons and such materials in the context of his links with the other
accused were found to sufficiently prove that A4 was also a party to the
common design of Al and A2, who stood not only convicted by the trial
Court but whose conviction was also affirmed by the High Court.
C [345-F, G, H; 346-A•D]

Baburao Ballrao Patil v. State of Maharashtra, [1971] 3 SCC 432 and
Mohamad Usman Mohamad Hussain Maniyar and Anr. v. State of
Maharashtra, AIR 1981 SC 1062, relied on.

D Maharaj Prithivisinghji Bhimsinghji v. State ofBombay, (1960) Crl.L.J.
672, held inapplicable.

1.4. When so much of solid proof was available as to his possession,
a restricted document prohibited for the general use of others and the
information contained therein is not to ~e communicated directly or
E indirectly to the press or any person not holding any official position in 1 .
the Government for the reason that it contained the names, number of
fields formation. and units of each individual officer. they being also
sensitive information from the defence point of view of .th~ ·.country; no
further proof is required and his possession sufficiently substantiates that
F he or somebody on his behalf obtained or collected it for him. The mode
of consideration and method of proof in a case like this, cannot be on the
lines of a crime under the provisions of IPC inasmuch as sub-section (2)
of Section 3 and Section 4 of the Act engrafts the statutory presumptions
to be drawn from the facts and that this would make all the difference in
the nature of consideration required in respect of offences committed
G. under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and the criminal conspiracies relating
to such offences, be it punishable under Section 120-B IPC. Hence, the
Verdict of Acquittal recorded by the High Court in favour of A4, by way
of reversal, suffers patent error of law and perversity. of approach and
consequently set aside. The judgment of the Additional Sessions Judge
H convicting A4 for .offences .under Section 3(l)(c) of the Official Secrets Act,
GOVT. OFNCT OF DELHI v. JASPAL SINGH [RAJU, J.] 339
1923 and Section 120-B IPC is restored. (346-G, H; 347-A-C) A
1.5. Though having regard to the nature and character of the
offences, stringent punishment is required, it is unnecessary to send the
respondent A4 once again to suffer imprisonment having been set at large
already and taking into account the period already spent by him under
custody. Keeping in view the sentence of two years R.I. imposed by the B
trial Judge and the fact that even as per the memo filed by the appellant-
State the period spent already under custody was one year, six months
and 20 days, the sentence of two years each already imposed by the trial
Court under Section 3(1)(c) of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and Section
120-B IPC is modified to the sentence already Qndergone by him. C
[347-D, E]

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 248
of 2003.
From the Judgment and Order dated 30.4.2001 of the Delhi High Court D
in Crl. A.No. 202 and 175 of 1985.
Rajeev Sharma for Mrs. Anil Katiyar and D.S. Mahra, (NP) for the
Appellant.
A.T.M. Rangaramanujan and Gopal Singh for the Respondent.
.E
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
D. RAJU, J. Four persons, including the respondent Jaspal Singh, V•ere
proceeded against pursuant to an FIR bearing No.237/83 registered on 10.11.83
and after concluding the investigation, the following four persons stood charged
for facing trial before the Addi. Sessions Judge, New Delhi, in Sessions Case F
No.33 of 1984:
1. Maj. Genl. (retd) F.D. Larkins, New Delhi, s/o Late H.D. Larkins
2; A.V.M. (retd) K.M. Larkins, Lucknow (U.P.), s/o Late H.D.
Larkins
3. Lt. Col. (retd) Jasbir Singh, New Delhi, s/o Shri Ranbir Singh G
4. Jaspal Singh Gill @ Jassi Gill, New Delhi, s/o Late Kartar Singh
All of them stood charged for offences under Sections 3, Sand 9 of the
Official Secrets Act, 1923 (for short "the Act") and also under Section 120B
. of the Indian Penal Code (for short "IPC"). That apart, in Sessions Case No.
31 of 1984 the accused No. l above stood further charged under Section 61 H
340 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A of the Punjab Excise Act, as extended to Delhi, and in Sessions case No.32
of 1984 he was also charged under Section 25 of the Anns Act.

Since, the evidence in all the above cases were considered to be common
they were tried together for recording evidence, too, though it was said to
have been recorded in S.C. No. 33 of 1984. On behalf of the .prosecution,
B PWs 1 to 60 seem to have been examined besides, marking various documents
as exhibits. On the side of the defence, six persons, in all seem to have been
examined by the different accused. The accused were also examined under
Section 313 Cr.P.C. After considering all the materials on record, the learned
Trial Judge in an elaborate judgment dated 24.7.1985 convicted them and
c imposed sentence as hereunder:

Accused Convic~ion U/s Sentence imposed

Accused No. I (a) Sec.3 (c) of the Official
Secrets Act, 1927.
D (b) Sec.5(b) of the Official 2 years R.I.
Secrets Act, 1927.
(c) Section 120B IPC 2 years R.I. with fine of
Rs.1000/- (3 months SI
in default)
E
(d) Section 25 of the Anns 2 years R.l. with fine of
Act Rs.2000/- (6 months S.I.
in default)
(e) Section 6l(i) (a) of the 1 year R.l. with fine of
Punjab Excise Act, as Rs.3000/- (5 months SJ.
F
extended to Delhi. in default)

Accused No.2 (a) Sec.3(c) of the Official I 0 years R.I.
Secre~s Act, 1927.

(b) Section 120B IPC 2 years S.l. with fine of
G Rs. I 000/- (3 months SI
in default)
Accused No.3 (a) Sec.3 (c) of the Official 10 years R.l.
Secrets Act, 1927.
(b) Sec.5(3) of the Official 2 years R.l. with fine of
Secrets Act, 1927. Rs. I 000/- (3 months S.I.
H in default)
GOVT. OFNCTOFDELHI v. JASPALSINGH[RAJU,J.] 341

(c) Section 120B IPC 2 years S.I. with fine of A
Rs.1000/- (3 months SI in
default)
(d) Section 6(1) (d) of the 3 years R.I. with fine of
Official Secrets Act, 1927. Rs.1000/- (3 months S.I.
in default)
B
Accused No. 4 (a) Sec.3 (c) of the Official 2 years R.I.
Secrets Act, 1927.
2 years S.I. with fine of
(b) Section 120B IPC Rs.1000/- (3 months SI in
default}
(All substantive sentences were ordered to run concurrently) c
Th~ ~bove accused filed appeals against the same in Cr!. Appeal No.
185 of 1985, Cr!. Appeal No.214 of 1985, Cr!. Appeal No.202 of 1985 and
Crl. Appeal No.175 of 1985, respectively. A learned Single Judge of the
High Court of New Delhi, by his judgment dated 30.4.2001, while affirming D
the conviction and sentence imposed on accused No. I and accused No.2,
dismissed Crl. Appeal Nos. 185 and 214 of 1985 respectively filed by them.
So far as accused No.3 and accused No.4 are concerned, the learned single
Judge, did not choose to agree with the decision of the learned Trial Judge
and while allowing their appeals set aside their conviction and sentence
imposed therefor and acquitted them. Not satisfied, the Government of National E
Capital Territory filed SLP Nos.3928-3929 of2002 and after leave was granted
the appeals were entertained as Crl. Appeal Nos.247 and 248 of 2003. The
respondent in Cr!. Appeal No.247 of2003 (accused No.3) was reported dead
on 26.2.2003 resulting in the abatement of the said appeal, leaving only the
appeal filed in Crl. Appeal No.248 of 2003 in respect of the acquittal of F
accused No.4 by the High Court for consideration.

On behalf of the appellant-State, it was contended that the reversal of
the conviction of the respondent was under a gross misdirection on the part
of the learned Single Judge in the High Court and- misconstruction of the
scope of Sections 10 and 30 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. It was also G
urged that the High Court in acquitting the respondent overlooked vital material
firmly connecting the respondent with the other conspirators resulting in
grave and manifest error and injustice and, therefore, this court must restore
the judgment of the learned trial Judge, by setting aside the decision of the
High Court. It was further contended that the materials on record, so far as
the respondent (accused No.4) is concerned,. themselves sufficiently H
342 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003) SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A substantiated the case against him and the High Court ought not to have
interfered with the well merited conviction of the respondent. In support
thereof, our attention has been invited to the judgments of the courts below
in great detail and to the ,relevant materials on record.

Per contra, on behalf of the respondent (accused No.4), the learned /I
B senior counsel contended that the findings of acquittal recorded in favour of I
the respondent is based upon sound reasoning and correct understanding and
appreciation of law and, therefore, no interference is warranted in this appeal \-
filed under Artie!~ 136 of the Constitution of India. While elaborating those '
aspects, it was urged that the confession or admissions of a co-accused are
C not admissible as substantive evidence against the others, than the maker
himself and in the light of doubts about the manner of recovery of the defence
Telephone Directory (Ex.PWI4/A) the acquittal was fully justified. According
to the respondent, the necessary ingredients of Section 3(1)(c) of the Act have
not been satisfactorily pr~ved against him and as long as the conclusions of
the High Court are equally reasonably possible and not found to be perverse
D or unreasonable, no interference is called for in this appeal. The conviction
of the accused No.4-respondent was said to have been on mere suspicion and L •.

the charge under Section l20B also was said to have been not proved properly.
Finally, it has been urged that out of the sentence of 2 years RI imposed the
respondent having already served under custody 18 months and 24 days,
E there is no justification to send him back to prison and there is justification
for consideration of the question relating to the quantum of sentence, in
favour of ~he respondent.

We have carefully considered the submissions of the learned counsel
appearing on either side. There is no such general rule as that, this court in
F an appeal cannot interfere with the opinion of the High Court, though the
scope and reasons for such interference may vary from cases otherwise coming
by way of a regular appeal. Though this Court does not convert itself into a
court to review the evidence for a third time by grant of special leave, where
the High Court is shown to have completely failed in appreciating the true
effect of the materials brought on record and • its findings are erroneous,
G perverse and result in miscarriage of justice, the Supreme Court will have no
hesitation to interfere, all the more so when the High Court has chosen to
reverse a verdict of conviction recorded by the learned Trial Judge, under a
total misconception of the principles of law as well as the vital and essential
facts proved.
H
GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI v. JASPAL SINGH [RAJU, J.) 343

So far as the scope of Section 3( I) (c) of the Act is concerned, it was A
urged for the respondent that unless the articles enumerated are shown to be
'secret' document or material and that besides their collection they were
published or communicated to any other person, the charge under the said
provision could not said to have been made out. Apparently, the inspiration
for such a submission was the judgment of a learned Single Judge of the
Bombay High Court reported in State of Maharashtra v. PK. Subba Rao & B
Anr., (1993) Crl.L. J. 2984. We are unable to agree with this extreme
submission on behalf of the respondent. This Court in Sama Alana Abdulla
v. State of Gujarat, [1996] 1 SCC 427 had held: (a) that the word 'secret' in
clause (c) of sub-section ( 1) of Section 3 qualified official code or password
and not any sketch, plan, model, article or note or other document or C
information and (b) when the accused was found in conscious possession of
the material (map - in that case) and no plausible explanation has been given
for its possession, it has to be presumed as required by Section 3(2) of the
Act that the same was obtained or collected by the appellant for a purpose
prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State. Further, each one of the
several acts enumerated in clause (c) of sub-section (I) of Section 3 of the D
Act, by themselves will constitute, individually, an offending act to attract
the said provision and it is not necessary that only one or more of them and -
particularly publishing or communicatioc of the same need be conjointly
proved for convicting one charged with the offence of obtaining or collecting
records or secret official code or password or any sketch, plan, model, article E
or note or other document or information. Any such interpretation would not
only amount to doing vic;>lence to the language, scheme underlying and the
very object of the said provision besides rendering otiose or a dead letter the
specific provision engrafted in sub-section (2) of Sectfon 3 of the Act. In
view of this, the decision of the Single Judge of the High Court in 1993 Crl.
L. J. 2984 (supra) cannot be said to lay down the correct position of law on F
the scope of Section 3(l)(c) of the Act.

The submissions on behalf of the parties on either side on either the
relevance, efficacy and reliability of the confessional statements of the 1st
Accused or principles underlying Sections 10 and 30 of the Indian Evidence G
Act 1872, next falls for consideration. No doubt, in law the confession of a
co-accused cannot be treated as substantive evidence to convict, other than
the maker of it, on the evidentiary value of it alone. But, it has often been
reiterated that if on the basis of the consideration of other evidence on record
the Court is inclined to accept the other evidence, but not prepared to act on
such evidence alone, the confession of a co-accused can be pressed into H
344 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2003] SUPP. 2 S.C.R.

A service to fortify its belief to act on it also. Once there are sufficient materials
to reasonably believe that there was concert and connection between persons
charged with a common design - it is immaterial as to whether they were
strangers to each other or ignorant of the actual role of each of them or that
they did not perform any one or more of such acts by joint efforts in unison.
Section 30 of the Indian Evidence Act envisages that when more than one
B person are being tried jointly for the same offence and a confession made by
one of such persons is found to affect the maker and some other of such
persons and stand sufficiently proved, the. Court can take into consideration
such confession as against such other person as well as against the person
who made such confession. This is what exactly seems to have been done by
C the learned Trial Judge, particularly in the context of sufficient material
available to also directly involve A-3 and A-4 in the common design of
collecting materials relating to Army activities or defence secrets. The learned
Judge in the High Court not only misconstrued the relevant principles of law
but also is found to have gone amiss totally to the relevant and vital aspects
of the materials and appears to have arrived at conclusions patently against
D weight of evidence, resulting in grave miscarriage of justice. The decision in
Natwar/al Sakarlal Mody v. The State of Bombay, (1961) 65 Born. L.R. 660
(SC) was in the context of the need for joint trial claimed by the State of
cases involving distinct acts/offences of criminal conspiracy against several
accused and does not even otherwise in any manner land support to the plea
· E made on behalf of the respondent.

So far as the charge under Section 120-B, IPC, is concerned, it stands
proved by showing that two or more persons have agreed to do or cause to
do an illegal act or ari act which is not illegal by illegal means and that some
overt act was done by one of the accused in pursuance of the same. Where
F their common obJect or design is itself to do an unlawful act, the specification
of such act itself which formed their common design would suffice and it
would even be unnecessary or superflous to further substantiate the means
adopted by all or any of them to achieve such object. All the more so, when
their common object or design appear to be to commit series of such serious
crimes and proof of any overt act in such cases also is a mere surplusage and
G that mere proof that they or some of them were concerned in the overt acts
alleged would, per se, go a long way to establish that there existed such
agreement amorig them. It is well known and as observed by this Court in
Baburao Bajirao Patil v. State of Mahrasthra, [1971] 3 SCC 432, " .....indeed
it is seldom - if ever - that direct evidence ofconspiracies can be forthcoming.
H Conspiracy of the present type from its very nature must be conceived and
GOVT. OFNCTOF DELHI v. JASPAL SINGH [RAJU, J.] 345
hatched in complete secrecy, for otherwise the whole purpose would fail. " A
This Court further, after adverting to the decisions reported in Hari Charan
Kurmi and Jogia Hajam v. State of Bihar, [1964] 6 SCR 623 and Hanumant
v. State of MP., [1952] SCR 1091 heavily relied upon for the accused therein,
observed as hereunder:-

"In a case of conspiracy in which only circumstantial evidence is B
forthcoming, when the broad features are proved by trustworthy
evidence connecting all the links of a complete chain, then on isolated
events the confessional statements of the co-accused lending assurance
to the conclusions of the court can be considered as relevant material
and the principle laid down in Haricharan Kurmi (supra) would not C
vitiate the proceedings."

This Court, in Mohamad Usman Mohamad Hussain Maniyar and Anr.
v. State of Maharashtra, AIR (l 981) SC 1062, held at page 1067 as follows:-

"It is true that there is n~ evidence of any express agreement between D
the appellants to do or cause to be done the illegal act. For an offence
under Section 120-B the prosecution need not necessarily prove that
the perpetrators expressly agreed to do or cause to be done the illegal
act; the agreement may be proved by necessary implication. In this
case, the fact that the appellants were possessing and selling explosive
substances without a valid licence for a pretty long time leads to the E
inference that they agreed to do and/or cause to be done the said
illegal act, for, without such an agreement the act could not have
been done for such a long time."

The learned Judge in the High Court seems to have committed grave
error in completely overlooking such well-settled principles and omitting to F
draw the necessary and reasonable conclusions flowing from the clinching
and trustworthy evidence produced which sufficiently proved the guilt of the
respondent, as rightly concluded by the learned trial Judge. As against the
elaborate consideration of the roles of each one of the accused, operating as
well-knit group aimed at collecting vital data relating to militancy affairs and G
defence matters pertaining to the Government of India and communicating
and passing on of such documents/information to the foreign U.S. Intelligence
- 60 operators working at New Delhi, during the period between January
1978 and November 1983, the consideration by the High Court was summary
and perfunctory as well. So far as respondent-A4 is concerned, the Defence .
Telephone D_irectory (Ex.PW.14), a classified document restricted for use, H
346 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2003] SUPP. 2 S. C.R.

A was recovered from the premises No.82, Sunder Nagar, which admittedly
was being used by A-4 for his residehce and business in running Mis Emge
International. There is sufficient evide~te on record to prove that this Directory
was issued to PW-14 in the year 1981 and A-3 used to now and then visit
·and use the same with the permission of PW-14, that thereafter it was missing
B from PW-14 and ultimately-found in the wooden Almirah in the House of A-
4. That apart, PW-49 seems to have deposed that A-4 himself opened the
wooden Almirah with a key and therefrom took out Ext.PW.14/A from inside.
This was found to be corroborated by the evidence of PWs-25, 57 and 56 as
well. The other documents, which were also recovered from the wooden
Almirah such· as Invitation and Visiting Cards detailed in Ext.PW.25/D, were
C found to be indicative of his contact and communion with foreign agents in
India.. Though, the respondent would deny all such, there is no reason to
doubt the clinching, truthful and cogent evidence of all such persons and
such materials in the context of his links with the other accused were found
to sufficiently prove that A-4 was also a party to the common design of A-
l and A-2, who stood not only convicted by the Trial Court but whose
D conviction was also affirmed by the very learned Judge in the High Court. '
The decision reported in Maharaj Prithvisinghji Bhimsinghji v. State of
Bombay, [1960) Crl. L. J. 672, as to possession and knowledge of existence,
has no relevance or application to the facts of the case, since in the present
case it has been proved not only to have been recovered from the house of
E A-4 but it was he who opened the Almirah with a key and made available
the Directory and other Cards and invitation from out of it. It is too much for
the learned Judge in the High Court to expect that each one of them should
have played identical roles and been parties to all events and happenings, at
all stages and times. In such circumstances, there can be no impediment for
the Court to reinforce its satisfaction of guilt of A~4 by referring to the
F confession of other co-accused as well. It is this misdirection as to the required
legal norms and extent of proof that misled the High Court in the ultimate
conclusions to be drawn.

When so much of solid proof was available as to his possession, a
G restricted document prohibited for the general use of others and the information
contained therein is not to be communicated directly or indirectly to the press
or to any person not holding any official position in the Government for the
reason that it contained the names, number of fields formation and units of
each individual officer they being also sensitive information from the defence
point of view of the country, no further proof is required and his possession
H sufficiently substantiates that he or somebody on his behalf obtained or
GOVT. OFNCTOFDELHI v. JASPAL SINGH [RAJU, J.] 347

collected it for him. The mode of consideration and method of proof in a case A
like this, cannot be on the lines of a crime under the provisions of IPC
inasmuch as sub-section (2) of Section 3 and Section 4 of the Act engrafts
the statutory presumptions to be drawn from the facts and that this would
make all the difference in the nature of.consideration required in respect of
offences committed under the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and the criminal B
conspiracies relating to such offences, be it punishable under Section 120-B,
IPC. For all the reasons stated above, we are satisfied that the Verdict of
Acquittal recorded by the High Court in favour of A-4, by way of reversal,
suffers patent error of law and perversity of approach and consequently require
to be set aside. We, accordingly, set aside the judgment of the High Court,
so far as the acquittal ofrespondent'A-4, by allowing Crl. Appeal No.248 of C
2003 and restore the judgment of learned Additional Sessions Judge, New
Delhi, convicting him for offences under Section 3(1) (c) of the Official
Secrets Act, 1923 and Section 120-B, IPC.

So far as the quantum of punishment is concerned, though having
regard to the nature and character of the offences, stringent punishment is D
required, we consider it unnecessary to send the respondent A-4 once again
to suffer imprisonment having been set at large alreacty and taking into account
the period already spent by him under custody. Though, on behalf of the
respondent it is claimed that he was under custody for one year, 6 months
and 24 days, keeping in view the sentence of two years R.I. imposed by the E
learned Trial Judge and the fact that even as per the· memo filed by the
appellant-State the period. spent already under custody was one year, six
months and 20 days, we modify the sentence of two years each already
imposed by the Trial Court under Section 3(1) (c) of the Official Secrets Act,
1923 and Section 120-B, IPC, to the sentence already undergone by him. The
fine imposed remains unaltered. Appeal allowed, subject to the modification F
of the sentence of imprisonment alone, as above.

S.K.S. Appeal allowed.