In Brief
Three conductors of Punjab Roadways were convicted of fraud, forgery, and corruption for allegedly using counterfeit/overprinted bus tickets in a scheme to defraud the state enterprise. On appeal, the Supreme Court set aside their convictions and acquitted them. The Court found that the prosecution fatally failed to prove its case: the enquiry report was admitted only as a xerox copy without proving loss of the original as required by law; the seized tickets were never properly sealed or recovered in the presence of credible witnesses; and witnesses who supposedly identified the tickets were not present at recovery and could not connect them to the accused. Without valid evidence, conviction could not stand.
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