Seven get 2-yr jail term in cheating, forgery case

Seven persons have been sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Delhi court for conspiring to cheat Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) by stealing and forging eight replenishment licences over two decades ago.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Pooran Chand awarded the jail term holding them guilty under various provisions of the IPC including criminal conspiracy, attempt to cheat, theft, forgery and using forged documents as genuine.
The court agreed with the CBI prosecutor's submission that economic offences were involved in this case which affected the national economy.
"It is correct that no wrongful loss or wrongful gain is caused in the present case, but conduct of all those convicts who were employees of the DGFT do not warrant any leniency because they had breached the trust bestowed upon them by the department and because they were aware and conversant with the procedure followed in the department," the court said, adding that the convicts should be dealt with strongly.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on each of the convicts -- Jasmeet Singh Kohli, Surender Khosla, Devender Singh Yadav, Manoj Sethi, Mukesh and Rajesh (all Delhi residents) and Gyan Chand Asija of Haryana.
It allowed their pleas for suspension of sentence to enable them to file appeal against the judgement and released them on bail till June 17.

According to the CBI, the accused had conspired to cheat the DGFT by stealing and forging eight REP (replenishment) licences and other documents in 1994.
A case was registered on the complaint of Joint Director of DGFT that during 1992 to 1994, a criminal conspiracy was hatched and eight REP licences were stolen from the record sections of the office of DGFT. Replenishment licences are required for the purpose of trading products.

On these stolen licences, premium was already paid by the State Bank of India on behalf of Joint DGFT office to MMTC. The accused allegedly erased the endorsement of 'premium paid' and resubmitted the eight REP licences to claim premium of Rs 6.4 crore in favour of M/s Alankar Impex on the basis of forged transfer letters and claim papers.
When it came to the knowledge of DGFT office, a complaint was filed with the CBI in 1994.
During trial, the accused claimed innocence and argued that the CBI probe was faulty.