Woman sentenced to four years RI in fake currency case

Thane, Aug 26 (PTI) A 36-year-old woman from Bhiwandi,who was found guilty of possessing counterfeit Indian currencynotes, has been sentenced to four-year rigorous imprisonmentby a district court here. Thane District Judge A S Bhaisrae awarded the sentenceto Shehnajbano Kamruddin Khan, a resident of Gaibinagar,recently. The court, however, acquitted another accusedMohammad Islam Anwar Hussain Ansari (25) for want of evidenceagainst him giving him the benefit of doubt. The Judge also slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 onShehnajbano, besides awarding an additional three-monthsentence after she was found guilty for offences punishableunder sections 489 (B) and 489 (C) of the IPC. The prosecution told the court that it was on October15, 2013 that she went to the branch of Bombay Mercantile Bankto deposit Rs 50,000 comprising notes of Rs 100 and Rs 500denominations. The cashier on the counter who accepted the currencynotes, suspected them to be fake and hence sought theassistance of his manager for a check following which it wasfound that all the 54 notes that she carried were fake. Then the matter was reported to Kumbharwada police whobased on a complaint by the bank arrested the woman, thecourt was told. In her defence the accused told the court that she wasilliterate and had given the currency for depositing in thebank and after an hour the police came and arrested her. The fake notes were sent to the currency press atNashik which in its report confirmed that these werecounterfeits. The judge in his order also noted that the accused washaving accounts with different banks and hence it can beconcluded that she was having banking knowledge. "There is no material on record to show that at anypoint of time, prior to this incident, the accused haddeposited such a huge amount in bank. She might have mixed thecounterfeit notes in genuine notes and had tried to depositthe same in the bank. Therefore, it can safely be said thatshe was having knowledge that those 54 notes of Rs 500/Rs 100were fake. The series of notes and note numbers were also foundto be different. Therefore, it can be inferred that theaccused had intention to pass off the fake notes as genuine,"the order said. Using counterfeit notes in the market, rather in thepresent case, in the bank, is nothing but to disturb theeconomy of the nation, the judge noted. Therefore, the accused is not entitled for anyleniency. Not only that, she is not entitled to benefit ofProbation of Offender’s Act, under the Bombay Probation ofOffender’s Act, 1958, the order said. PTI COR DK SMNBAS