Four men have been sentenced to varying jail terms of seven to 10 years by a Delhi court for manufacturing and selling fake judicial stamp papers here in 2004.
Additional Sessions Judge Yashwant Kumar awarded the varying sentences to the four convicts, Tahir Hussain, Krishan Kumar Verma, Vijay Sharma and Kallu for the offences of counterfeiting Government stamps and possessing instrument or material for counterfeiting Government stamp, under the IPC.
"In view of arguments of counsel for convicts and special Public Prosecutor for CBI... and considering the totality of facts and circumstances, convict Kallu is sentenced to 10 years under section 255 (counterfeiting Government stamp) of IPC...
"All the convicts are sentenced to seven years years under section 120B (conspiracy) read with sections 255, 256 (possession of instrument or material for counterfeiting Government stamp) and 259 (making or selling instrument for counterfeiting Government stamp) of IPC," the court said.
The counsel for the convicts had sought a lenient view on the ground that all of them had spent more than two years in custody during trial and are sole earning members of their respective families.
Public Prosecutor A P Singh had sought the maximum sentence for the convicts, saying the offence committed by them jeopardises the economy of the country and a casual or light view cannot be taken.
According to the prosecution, on August 13, 2004 as per information received from a source, CBI had registered a case.
The agency had nabbed 52-year-old Tahir while he was on his way to deliver the fake stamps and had recovered non-judicial stamp papers worth Rs 11.40 lakh.
Other accused, Verma (62), Sharma (48) and Kallu (32), were arrested at the instance of Tahir. During interrogation, it was found that Kallu used to manufacture the fake stamps and the others were delivering it. CBI had also recovered manufacturing material from Kallu's house.
