Complaint Case No.

-152/2008 Statement under section 164 CrPC UOI Vs Ashutosh Asthana and 82 others

Section 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 477A, 120B IPC and 8/9/14/13(1)d, 13(2) Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 Police Station Kavi Nagar, Ghaziabad.

Question: Are you well and not under any pressure? Answer: I am completely well; I am not under any pressure. Question: Are you willing to give your statement under Section 164 CrPC? Answer: I am willing to have my statement, under Section 164 CrPC, recorded. Question: You are not bound to give the statement under Section 164 CrPC. If you get your statement recorded under Section 164 CrPC, then it will be read against you in evidence. Answer: Yes, I am willing to have my statement recorded under 164 CrPC, it should be read against me in evidence. The accused made the statement on oath that my name is Ashutosh, my age is ____, resident, permanent address Shivpur, Varanasi and recent address G-5, Govindpuram, Ghaziabad. (1) When did you start your job in the District Court, Ghaziabad? Answer: I began my job on 9th February 1993 in the District Court,

Ghaziabad. (2) Which posts did you occupy and for how long did you occupy them? Answer: On 9th February 1993, I was appointed --- . In September 1993, I was appointed Assistant Clerk in the Bill Section. In August 1998, I was promoted and was appointed to the post of Accounts Clerk (Lekha Lipik). On 9th May 2003, I was appointed to the post of Central Nazir and have occupied the post of Central Nazir, Ghaziabad till 14th February 2008.

Question 3: Who is responsible for the permanent/temporary withdrawal of the GPF of Class IV employees? Answer: I was personally responsible for the permanent/temporary

withdrawal of the GPF of Class IV employees.

Question 4: Did you sanction the withdrawals on your own? Answer: I used sanction some of the withdrawals myself, but some of the withdrawals were not sanctioned by me and I did as I was told by the District Judge. Question 5: Whether you were personally responsible for the upkeep of the passbooks of Class IV employees relating to the applications? Answer: Yes, I was responsible for the upkeep of the passbooks of the Class IV employees, but I gave the responsibility of this work to my assistants, Narender and Kamlesh. In the Accounts Section, Jitendra Kumar and Mamta used to do this work. Question 6: What were the steps taken by you for withdrawal of funds from the GPF? Answer: Employees give their applications on which a report is made by us. We used to have it forwarded by the DGO in the Accounts Section and in Nazarat Section, by the Nazarat Incharge, thereafter, this used to be put before the District Judge through approach. . Bill is made. After bill is made, it is sent to the Treasury and after getting passed from the Treasury, cheque is issued. Cheque is delivered to the concerned employee. Question 7: Did you know that according to the rule, permanent withdrawal is permissible only after 15 years of service, how many times and for which employees did you sanction the permanent withdrawal before the completion of 15 years of service and without any passbook? Answer: I know that permanent withdrawal can only be done after the

service of 15 years. Regarding the rest of the question, I do not remember. I do not remember any such sanctions for permanent withdrawal done by me. Question 8: Do you know that till the time the temporary withdrawal is

recovered, second temporary withdrawal cant be done? For how many employees and how many times did you have the second advance sanctioned while the first GPF withdrawal was still pending?

Answer: According to my knowledge, the second temporary withdrawal can be made even while the recovery of the first temporary withdrawal is still pending. Regarding the remainder of your question, I do not remember. Question 9: How many times and for how many individuals did you sanction the advance and permanent withdrawal from the GPF, showing them as Class IV employees despite the fact that they were not government employees at all? How did you maintain their passbooks and ledger account registers and where are these records? Answer: I do not have any knowledge regarding this question. Due to

excess work, my assistant, Narender used to do this job. However for the payment of some people, about whom I was told by the District Judge, the sanction of the advance and permanent withdrawal from the GPF was done by me. These outsiders were Sanjeev Tyagi, Arun Verma, Ami Chand, Amit Chadha, Sachin Goyal, Bhopal Singh, Pushpa, Savita, my wife Sushma and Savitri Devi. At the instruction of the District Judge, their passbooks and ledger register was maintained by me and the payment of bills used to be done by me. Narender was not present for these matters.

Question 10:

Did you know that the forgery of the documents for the

withdrawal of government money and the illegal withdrawal of permanent or temporary GPF is a crime and the allegation of illegal withdrawal of permanent and temporary fund from the GPF is against you, do you accept this crime? Answer: I accept the aforesaid crime, whatever withdrawal is done, it is done on the approval of the District Judge, and this is done on his instruction.

Question 11:

Do you willingly accept the crime that you sanctioned the

withdrawal of government funds against the rule illegally by sanctioning the withdrawal of the amount from GPF twice in one year? Answer: I do not willingly accept this crime; It is not in accordance with the rule that one is prohibited from withdrawing the GPF twice in the same year. I

do not have the knowledge about the bill made by my assistants, Jitender and Narender on their own accord and without my sanction.

Question 12 What, where and in whose names in your family, have you purchased immovable property with the funds received by the permanent withdrawal and temporary advance? What is the description of the money spent and movable and immovable assets acquired in the name of your family members after you joined the job. Answer- No movable and immovable property has been purchased from the said fund by me and my family. After my joining the job, whatever property I have purchased is situated in Ghaziabad. (1) House No. 4, 5 situated at Govindpuram, purchased in 1999 by taking loan, was of about Rs. 3 lakh 25 thousand. (2) House No. 4, 34, situated at Govindpuram, is in my wife Sushmas name and I had purchased the same in the year 2000 for about Rs. 4 lakhs 10 thousand all inclusive. (3) House C, 351 was allotted to me in Swarn Jayanti Puram Ghaziabad by the Ghazibad Authority. It was allotted for about Rs. 3-3and a1/2 lakhs. (4) At Dassana Masoorie, I have 8 bighas agricultural land in my name, which I had purchased in 2000 for Rs. 5- and a 1/2lakhs. (5) My wife has about 7and a1/2 bighas agricultural land at Dasana Masoorie which I had purchased for about Rs. 11 and a1/2 lakhs. (6) One house is at B-4 Sector -8, Rajnagar, which I had purchased for Rs. 7and a 1/2 lakhs. I had taken a loan of Rs. 5 lakhs on this very house. I and my family have no other immovable property. (7) Who were the officers on whose instructions you used to withdraw funds

illegally from the GPF? Answer- I used to withdraw funds illegally from the GPF at the instructions of the following officers. 1- Sri R. P. Misra. 2- Sri R. S. Tripathi

3- Sri R. P. Yadav 4- Sri R. N. Misra 5- Sri Ajay Kumar Singh 6- Sri R. S. Choubey 7- Sri Arun Kumar I used to do the above work at the instruction of the abovementioned District Judges and District Judge In-charge. Question -14 What articles and funds did you give from the illegal funds, to whom and at whose instructions? What is the description of each one of these transactions? 1Sri R. P. Mishra used to be given Rs. 25-30 thousand every month for expenses. His son was studying in IMT Ghaziabad. The expenses of his studies were borne from this fund. At the residence of Sri R. P. Misra at Gomti Nagar, all woodwork and furniture work was done by the carpenter of the Court, Sri Anokhe Lal at the expense of these funds. About Rs. 1 to 1 and a half1/2 lakhs were spent in the said work. After his transfer, all the goods were sent to Luknow through the transporter by the name of Amichand. Apart from the above, Sri R. P. Misra lived in the official residence even after his retirement, for a period of six months, at which time about Rs. 1-1/2 to 2 lakhs were spent as monthly expenditure. Apart from the above, I purchased a TV, Fridge, Washing machine and other electronic goods for Misraji. Besides this, private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for Mishra jis familys traveling. Electric work and photography was also provided during functions, festivals etc. Apart from this, about Rs. 1-11/2 cash used to be given to him every month. 2Monthly domestic expenditure of Sri. R. S. Tripathiji was about Rs. 50,000/- , which used to be paid by me. The family of R. S. Tripathi was given clothes and jewelry from Mangaldeep stores, Ghantaghar. The following things were purchased and given to Sri Tripathi. 1. Both big and small colour TVs.

2. Both big and small fridges 3. Both window and split ACs 4. Mobile phone, exhaust fan, chordless phone, speaker phone and inverter were purchased and given. Sri R. S. Tripathis son and daughter often used to ask for AC cars for traveling which used to be provided by Tyagi Travels. Costly crockery set, dinner set etc. several types of sets were supplied by Amichand to him, for which no payment was made by him. Sri Tripathi ji was given about Rs. 3 and 3-1/2 lakhs every month by me during my tenure. Even during his tenure as High Court Judge, goods were sent to him in a similar manner, which used to be delivered by Sri Sravan Kumar, Class IV employee.

I was made Central Nazir by Sri R. P. Yadav. For his domestic expenditure every month about Rs. 15 to 20 thousand used to be given by me. At the residence of his son Nikhil Yadav at Allahabad, wood and furniture work were done by Sri Anokhe lal which cost about Rs. 1-1/2 lakh. Jewelry and clothes were given from Mangal Deep stores, Ghanta Ghar. Sri Yadavji and his son were given AC, TV, Refrigerator, Washing Machine, Mobile (Touch Point, Ambedkar Road) from city electronic stores. After his retirement, his goods were transported to his residence at Luknow by truck by Amichand.

The monthly domestic expenditure of Sri R. N. Misra was about Rs. 25 to 30 thousand which used to be borne by me. At the residence of Sri R. N. Misras son, Sri Sunil Misra at Allahabd, furniture work was done by Sri Anokhe Lal. Apart from that Sri R. S. Misra was given a double bed, sofa and dining table by Anokhe Lal, the total expenditure on which was to the tune of about Rs. 1-1/2 to 2 lakhs . Sri R. N. Misra and his son were given colour TV, Refrigerator, Washing Machine, Mobile (Touch Point, Ambedkar Road) from city electronics. His wife was given chains, rings,

bangles, payals and necklaces, all of which were purchased from Managal Deep and Dipali jewelers. Several sets of crockery were supplied by Amichand. At the residence of his younger son at Dhanbad, furniture was delivered by Amichand. Private cars used to be provided from Tyagi

travels for Mishra ji and his familys traveling . For buying 3-1/2 bighas of land near Hapur by-pass, Sri R. N. Misra was given an advance amount of Rs. 3-1/2 lakhs by me through Sri Mahendra Yadav, Class IV employee of the court which was later cancelled. Sri Misras son was also given a computer which was purchased from Computer, Ambedkar Road. Apart from the abovementioned, about Rs. 4 lakhs used to be given to Sri R. N. Misra every month by me. After his transfer, all the domestic goods of Sri R. N. Misra were sent to his residence at Allahabad by Amichand. No payment was made for any of the abovementioned things. At his instruction, the payment was done from the GPF.

In Sri Ajay Kumar Singhs family, besides his wife, two sons were also there. His entire family was fond of traveling, buying new costly clothes, and costly jewelry. For his domestic expenditure every month about Rs. 50 thousand used to be given by me. Sri A .K. Singh was given colour TV, refrigerator, AC and camera by me, all of which were bought from City Electronics Ghaziabad. From other electronic shops at Navyug Market, fan, geyser, press were given. Several crockery sets and costly show pieces were given by Amichand. Costly almirah and dressing table were given after purchasing from Rajkamal Store, Ramteram Road. From Mangal Deep store, Raymond store, Bindal store, clothes worth about Rs. 4 to 5 lakhs were purchased by his family. Sri A. K. Singhs son was provided a Bajaj motor cycle by me. About Rs. 1-1/2 lakh was spent on his familys weight loss and beauty treatment. Sri Anokhe Lal made a double bed and sofa for them and a double bed, chairs, nest for windows and almirah were made for Sri A.K.Singh sons residence at 50 C, Aravli

Apartment, Sector-52, Noida, the expenditure of which came to about Rs. 70 to 80 thousand. His family used to be given costly cars by Tyagi travels, his son was given computer and laptop through me. After his transfer, all the goods were delivered to Luknow through transport by Amichand. At his residence at Luknow, he got the boring of Somersevil pump done by me. All the fittings for the bathrooms, which cost about Rs. 50 to 60 thousand, were sent to Luknow through Anokhe Lal and Amichand (Class four employee) on purchases made by me. Apart from all these, about Rs. 4-4-1/2 lakh cash used to be given every month to Sri A. K. Singh by me.

The monthly domestic expenditure of Sri R. S. Choubey was about Rs. 20 to 25 thousand which used to be borne by me. About Rs. 4 lakh cash

used to be given every month to Sri R. S. Choubey by me. At the residence of his son at Fordganj, Allahabad, furniture work was done by Sri Anokhe Lal, which included double bed, sofa, dining table which were of shesham wood, which must have cost about Rs. 1-1/2 to 2 lakhs. Sri R. S. Choubey was given colour TV, refrigerator, AC, by me after buying from City Electronics Ghaziabad. His elder daughter and younger son were given computer and younger daughter was given laptop by purchasing from Pysem Computer, mobile phone from touch power Ambedkar Road, clothes and jewelry from Mangal Deep stores, Raymond store and Jindal stores were given. Costly stones like Panna, Nilam etc. were given after purchasing from Mangal Deep jewelers. Private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for traveling of his family. About Rs. 1-1/2 lakh were spent on his wife and daughters weight loss at Bhatia Weighing, RDC.

The monthly domestic expenditure of Sri Arun Kumarji used to be about Rs. 30 to 35 thousand. Sri Arun Kumar ji used to often take cash which was from 50 thousand to 1 lakh from me. Every day private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for traveling of Sri Arun Kumarji and his

family. On his daughters wedding, four new big vehicles were given for one entire week. Besides this, in the marriage, arrangement of water, electricity, generator was also done by me. For his daughters reception at Calcutta, reservations for both sides of the entire family were done by me. In his daughters marriage, two lakhs cash were given by me.

The monthly domestic expenditure of Sri Arun Kumar Cahudhary (the then DDO) used to be about Rs. 20 to 25 thousand. He used to be given cash about 1-1/2 lakh to 2 lakhs by me.

Ms. Ujjwala Garg (the then DDO)- Her monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 10 to 15 thousand which used to be given by me. Private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for her traveling.

Subhash Chand Agarwal (the then DDO) His monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 20 to 25 thousand which used to be given by me. About Rs. 1-1-1/2 lakh cash used to be given every month to Sri Subhash Chand Agarwal by me. Private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for his traveling.

Subhash Chand Nigam (the then DDO) His monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 20 to 25 thousand which used to be given by me. About Rs. 1-1-1/2 lakh cash used to be given every month to Sri Nigam by me.

Smt. Sadhana Chaudhary (the then DDO) Her monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 20 to 25 thousand which used to be given by me. About Rs. 2-2-1/2 to 3 lakh cash used to be given every month to her by me. Smt. Chaudhary was given furniture, double bed, sofa, dining table, dressing table etc. were given by buying from Navyug

and Rajkamal furniture for her residence by me and Private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for her and her close friends/relatives.

Sri R. P. Shukla (the then DDO) About Rs. 1-1-1/2 to 2 lakhs cash used to be given every month to Sri R. P. Shukla by me. His monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 20 to 25 thousand which used to be given by me. Sri R. P. Shukla and his son and son-in-law were given TV, refrigerator, AC, mobile, camera, laptop etc. by me and Private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for his familys traveling.

Sri D. S. Tripathi (the then DDO) His monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 20 thousand, about Rs. 1-1-1/2 to 2 lakhs cash used to be given every month to him by me. Sri Tripathi was given TV, refrigerator, washing machine etc. by me and Private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for his familys traveling.

Sri Prakash (the then DDO) About Rs. 3 to 4 lakhs cash used to be given every month to Sri Prakashji by me. Domestic furniture like sofa, double bed, almirah were made by Anokhelal.

Sri Ali Jamin (the then DDO) Sri Ali Jamins monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 20 25 thousand . On his coming after transfer, all his children were admitted by me. Sri Ali Jamin was given cooler, geyser, fans by purchases made by me. Private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for his familys traveling. After the transfer of Sri Ali Jamin, his goods were transported to Varanasi by Amichand.

Sri Dipak Srivastav (present DDO) About Rs. 3 to 4 lakhs cash used to be given every month to Sri Dipak Srivastav by me. Private cars used to be provided to him from Tyagi travels. Domestic furniture like sofa, double bed, dressing table, almirah were made by Anokhelal.

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Sri R. A. Kaushik (the then Nazarat In-charge) Sri R. A. Kaushiks monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 25 to 30 thousand every month. Domestic furniture was made by Anokhelal. Sri Kaushik was given TV, refrigerator, washing machine etc. by me after purchasing and Private cars used to be provided to him from Tyagi travels.

Sri Chandraprakash (the then Nazarat In-charge) Sri Chandraprakashs monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 25 to 30 thousand every month. Sri Chandraprakash was given TV, refrigerator, AC, Crockery, camera, etc. by me after purchasing. About Rs. 2 lakhs cash used to be given every month to Sri Chandraprakash by me and Private cars used to be provided to him from Tyagi travels. After the transfer of Sri Ali Jamin, his domestic goods were transported to Lucknow and Allahabad by Amichand.

Sri R. C. Singh (the then Nazarat In-charge) Sri R. C. Singhs monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 15 thousand. Cash Rs. 1-1/2 to 2 lakhs used to be given every month to him by me. Private cars used to be provided from Tyagi travels for his familys traveling.

Sri C. K. Tyagi (the then Nazarat In-charge) Sri C. K. Tyagis monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 5 to 10 thousand which was done by me. Private cars used to be provided to him from Tyagi travels.

Sri Jaishil Pathak (the then Nazarat In-charge) Sri Jaishil Pathaks monthly domestic expenditure used to be about Rs. 35 to 40 thousand. Besides this, about Rs. 2 lakhs cash used to be given every month to him by me. Sri Jaishil Pathak was given TV, refrigerator, AC, mobile by me and clothes were bought from Mangal deep store and Bindal store and given to him and I provided fabric for curtain worth Rs. 60 thousand to Sri

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Pathakji after purchasing. After transfer, his domestic goods were also provided by me.

Sri Akhilesh Dubey (the then CJM) I used to provide vehicles to Sri Akhilesh Dubey after he became the judicial magistrate for his VIP work like when Justice Sinde came and for traveling of his son and family. This work I did at the instruction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate. Besides this, when he used to stay at VIP Dak Bunglow, I used to do all the arrangements for his food, traveling and marketing. Apart from that, whatever expenses used to take place for food in monthly Lok Adalat used to be done by me. This I could not tell the investigating team.

Sri Himanshu Bhatnagar (the then Chief Judicial Magistrate) At the instruction of Sri Himanshu Bhatnagar, who was the then Chief Judicial Magistrate, I used to do all the expenses for the arrangement of food, traveling and marketing for VIPs.

Sri Hamidulla ( the then Nazarat) I used to give sometimes Rs. 5 to 10 thousand for domestic expenses of Sri Hamidulla. He was given geyser, fans etc. which was purchased by me.

Sri D. C. Singh (the then Railway Magistrate) Sri D. C. Singh was very close to the then District Judge Sri R. N. Misra. At his instruction, Sri D. C. Singh was provided TV, Refrigerator, AC through me. Private cars used to be provided to him from Tyagi travels.

Sri Anil Kumar Singh (present Railway Magistrate) Sri Anil Kumar Singh was very close to the then District Judge Sri R. S. Chaubey. At his instruction, I got him provided two ACs, for which payment was not done by Sri Anil Kumar Singh. New cars were provided to him from Tyagi travels.

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Sri Gauri Shankar Sngh (Senior Administrative Officer) Sri Gauri Shankar Singh (Senior Administrative Officer) used to be given every month about Rs. 50 thousand by me. I got his operation done at Metro Hospital in Noida when he suffered heart attack. In which, total expenditure of Rs. 3-1/2 lakh occurred, was borne by me.

Sri Sunil Kumar Sharma ( presently the clerk of the District Judge) Sri Sunil Kumar Sharma was twice given Rs. 10lakhs cash by me on his demand, on one occasion he took for building a house at Mahendra Enclave Gaziabad. Second time, it was told by him that he took for purchasing a house of Smt. Bina Chaudhary (the then Chief Judicial Magistrate) at Vaishnov Apartment, Rajnagar. I have not received the said amount from him till today. I could not tell this to the investigation team.

Honble Justice Sri Anjani Kumar (Administrative Judge) At two occasions, Honble Justice Anjani Kumar the Administrative judge of the Administrative Examination Court. At the instruction of the District Judge, he has often been sent household items like towel, costly Bed sheets, Almirah, etc. Two LG TVs worth Rs. one lakh Home Theatre were

purchased from City Electronics, Ghaziabad and given to him by me. His wife and son were given mobile from touch power after purchasing. Whenever he or his son used to come to Ghaziabad or Delhi, I used to arrange for their stay, food and private AC cars. Readymade suit and sarees etc. were bought and provided to them by me. The payment of which was done by me.

Honble Justice Sushil Harkauli: Honble Justice Harkauli, at the instruction of then District Judge, was given one big projector and its screen worth about Rs.80,000/- by me. Apart from that, he was also given mobile

phone with touch power, Ambedkar Road after purchasing. He was also

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provided special goods like crockery, etc. from time to time.

At the

instruction of the then District Judge, he used to be given costly Scotch bottles. I had sent on three or four occasions costly scotch bottles.

Honble Justice Tarun Aggarwal:

Justice Tarun Aggarwal was given

window AC and split AC for his residence at Noida by me. He often used to be provided private cars by me when he used to come to Delhi. At his sons marriage, private AC cars were sent for three days. Honble Justice B.S. Sahai: Justice B.S. Sahai and his father-in-law, who was the former Judge, were given mobile phone with touch power after purchasing. Honble Justice J.C.M. Rawat: Justice J.C.S. Rawat was given TV, Fridge, AC, Geyser, Automatic wood cutter machine etc., after purchasing. At his residence, at A-35 Govindpuram, furniture and wood work were done by Sri Anokhe Lal At his residence, work relating to construction of one room, veranda, grill for windows were done by me. Honble Justice Sri O.A. Khandelwal- Honble Justice Sri O.A. Khandelwal was given TV, fridge, AC, microwave oven, ceiling fan, electronic press by me after purchasing. Besides this, costly domestic goods, crockery were bought and given. At the residence of his son, furniture work was done by Sri Anokheylal, which coste about Rs. 1 to 1-1/2 lakh. Sri Khandelwal, whenever used to come to Noida or Ghaziabad, cars used to be provided for traveling from Tyagi travels. Honble Justice Sri Swatantra Singh Honble Justice Sri Swatantra Singh, High Court Allahabad, was provided, which was common, crockery etc. His sons live in Gudgaon. At his residence, R.D.Singh, Gudgaon, furniture work worth Rs. One lakh was done by Sri Anokhey Lal. Sri Swatantra Singh, whenever used to come to Delhi or Gudgaon, cars used to be provided for traveling from Tyagi travels.

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Honble Justice Tarun Chatterjee: At the instructions of the District Judges, some household goods like towels, bed sheets often used to be delivered to Shri Tarun Chatterjee. crockery by Amichand. Shri Tarun Chatterjee was also supplied

Domestic furniture purchased from Rajkamal

Furniture, Ramteram Road were delivered to his residence at Calcutta by Sri Amichand. Shri Tarun Chatterjees son, Shri Aagendra Chatterjee was given laptop of Sony from the Panchniar computer shop which was worth Rs.1,25,000/-. He was also given mobile after purchasing.

Honble Justice Sri P.K.Sawant- Honble Justice Sawant is working at the post of the Judge of Calcutta High Court. Probably, he is relative of Sri Tarun Chatterji. Justice is working. One filtrate loading washing machine of IFB and one 29 inch TV were delivered at his residence by an employee of the Court, Shri Shravan Kumar by truck. I do not have to say anything else. Verified after hearing 28.04.2008 A.C.J.M., second I made Asutosh Asthana understand that he is not bound to confess and if he does so, the confession which he willmake, can be used against him as evidence and I believe that the confession has been made willingly, in my presence and recorded in my hearing. The man, who has done confession, been read over to him. And he has accepted that it is correct. And this is the correct account of the statement given by him.

28.04.2008 A.C.J.M., second

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