Thane court convicts man in 2018 fake currency case

A Thane court has convicted a 38-year-old man after he pleaded guilty in a 2018 fake currency and illegal firearms possession case, sentencing him to imprisonment already undergone during his nearly eight-year judicial custody.

Additional Sessions Judge VL Bhosale, on June 17, ordered the immediate release of the accused, Ashish Shivkumar Sharma, subject to the payment of a collective fine of Rs 8,600.

A copy of the court order was made available on Saturday.

Sharma had been in jail since July 11, 2018, following a police raid at Diva in Maharashtra’s Thane district, where counterfeit notes with a face value of Rs 1,09,650, a scanner-printer, and an unlicensed firearm were seized.

The judge in the order noted, “The offence of counterfeiting currency notes is a serious economic offence. Counterfeit currency undermines financial stability and harms ordinary citizens and the national economy.”

However, the court also took into account his poor health, lack of family support, and previous record.

“Taking an overall view of the matter and balancing the gravity of the offence against the substantial period already undergone, this court is of the considered view that the sentence of imprisonment already undergone by the accused, together with a fine, would meet the ends of justice in this case,” it said.

The court ordered the man to pay a collective fine of Rs 8,600 for various offences.

The case against the co-accused, Mohd Ismail Yasin Siddhiqui, who pleaded not guilty, will proceed separately through a regular trial.