HC overturns life sentence for two caught with counterfeit notes

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court overturned the life sentence awarded to two persons who were caught with fake currency notes in Surendranagar in Oct 2012. The HC acquitted them on the grounds that they had no intention of using the counterfeits in the market as genuine and stated that they appeared to be "trapped" by police.
The HC accepted the prosecution's case that the two accused, Bharat Mukhiya and Santosh Mukhiya, had fake currency notes in their possession when they were on their way from Halvad to Surendranagar sessions court to secure bail for their colleague who had been arrested 10 days before their arrest.
The prosecution claimed they brought fake currency notes from Bihar and Nepal. A team from the Special Operations Group (SOG) laid a trap, arrested the duo, and found counterfeits on them. Their landlord from Halvad was also part of the raiding party.
A sessions court in Surendranagar found them guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment in March 2013. They appealed against the conviction.
The bench comprising Justice Ilesh Vora and Justice Sandeep Bhatt stated that the prosecution's claim that they were trying to use fake notes even after their colleague was arrested just 10 days before was "not digestible".
The HC raised questions about the presence of their landlord in the raiding party and said, "The investigating officer straightway arrested the accused, and the manner in which he called PW-8 Bhavesh (the landlord) would raise the inference that the appellants were trapped by police."
The HC did not find mens rea in this case and stated, "No sufficient evidence that the accused found with the possession of counterfeit notes intended to use the same as genuine, and at the relevant time, they knew that the notes were counterfeit."