Deo Kumar Paswan vs Shyam Sundar Paswan son Of Deo Kumar Paswan

Heard Mr. B.K. Dubey, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner.

Heard Mr. Azeemuddin, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Opposite Party-State.

This criminal revision petition was filed by the present petitioner alongwith the co-convict namely, Deo Kumar Paswan against the Judgment dated 21.07.2014 passed by the learned Dist. & Addl. Sessions Judge-II, Chatra in Criminal Appeal No. 44/2012 whereby and whereunder the Judgment of conviction and the order of sentence passed by the learned trial court was confirmed and the appeal was dismissed.

The criminal appeal was preferred by the present petitioner alongwith five others against the Judgment of conviction and the order of sentence dated 31.07.2012 passed by the learned Civil Judge-V, Chatra in G.R. Case No. 582 of 2009 / T.R. Case No. 718/2012 (arising out of Hunterganj P.S. Case No. 98/2009) whereby and whereunder the present petitioner alongwith Shravan Paswan, Deo Kumar Paswan, Dilip Paswan Vinay Paswan and Arjun Paswan were held guilty and convicted under Sections 147, 342 and 323/149 of the Indian Penal Code and were sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for one year for the offence under Section 147 of the Indian Penal Code, simple imprisonment for six months for the offence under Section 323 of the Indian Penal Code and simple imprisonment for six months for the offence under Section 342 of the Indian Penal Code and all the sentences were directed to run concurrently.

Initially, the present criminal revision petition was preferred by Deo Kumar Paswan and the present petitioner, but as per the supplementary affidavit filed by the State of Jharkhand, Deo Kumar Paswan died on 04.04.2019 during pendency of this criminal revision. Accordingly, the name of Deo Kumar Paswan has been deleted from the cause title pursuant to order dated 08.09.2020.

Arguments on behalf of the petitioner

At the outset, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the present criminal revision petition was admitted for hearing on 28.07.2015 on the limited point of sentence only and the petitioner was enlarged on bail and accordingly, he would confine his arguments on the question of sentence of the petitioner-Shyam Sundar Paswan only.

The learned counsel submitted that the present case arises out of family land dispute, as it is the specific case of the prosecution that the entire incident had happened due to the fact that the accused persons sold their shares alongwith the share of land of the Informant to the extent of two kathas which was protested by the Informant.

Learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that the petitioner has been convicted under Sections 147, 323 and 342/149 of the Indian Penal Code and the maximum sentence imposed upon him is simple imprisonment for one year for the offence under Section 147 of IPC and he has remained in custody for a total period of about 28 days. He further submitted that the incident is of the year 2009 and accordingly, 11 years have already elapsed from the date of the incident and this petitioner has no criminal antecedent and is not a habitual offender and at present, he is 34 years of age and is living with his family and is the only bread earner of his family and as such, sending him back to prison will not serve any fruitful purpose.

The learned counsel also submitted that the Informant- victim-Shanti Devi was examined by the doctor (PW-9) who found that she has suffered simple injury resulting in swelling on left foot 1"x ½" caused by hard and blunt substance. He submitted that considering the aforesaid aspects of the matter, the sentence of the petitioner may be modified and reduced. He further submitted that the petitioner is also ready to pay some amount by way of victim compensation to the informant of the case which may be deemed proper by this Court.

Arguments on behalf of the Opposite Party-State

The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Opposite Party-State opposed the prayer and supported the impugned judgments and submitted that the petitioner has not even served 50%of the punishment imposed upon him. However, he did not dispute the fact that the dispute was amongst the family members in connection with sale of some property and the petitioner has no criminal antecedent. He also submitted that if this Court is inclined to modify the sentence of the petitioner, then some fine amount may be imposed and some victim compensation may also be directed to be paid to the informant of the case and considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the said amount may not be less than Rs. 15,000/-.

Findings of this Court

After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and after going through the impugned judgments and the lower court records and keeping in mind the limited submissions of the learned counsel for the petitioner and the scope of revision jurisdiction, this Court is not inclined to interfere with the findings of the learned courts below and as such, the judgment of conviction passed by the learned trial court and confirmed by the learned appellate court is hereby confirmed.

So far as the sentence of the petitioner is concerned, this Court finds that the present criminal revision has been admitted for hearing on the limited point of sentence only and the First Information Report was instituted as back as in the year 2009 and since then, more than 11 years have elapsed and the petitioner has suffered the rigours of the litigation for the last 11 years and the petitioner has remained in custody for about 28 days. Further, no such allegation has been made by the opposite party regarding any misuse of the privilege of bail by the petitioner. This Court further finds from the trial court judgment that the present case is the first offence of the petitioner. Further, it appears that the genesis of the offence is dispute alleging sale of some landed property of the same family.

Considering the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is of the view that ends of justice would be served if the sentence is modified to some extent. Accordingly, the sentence of the petitioner for all the offences is modified and reduced to four months and fine of Rs.5,000/- to be deposited by the petitioner before the learned trial court within a period of 2 months from the date of communication of this order to the learned court below. All the sentences are directed to run concurrently and the sentence already served by the petitioner is directed to be set off. If the aforesaid amount is not deposited within the stipulated time, the petitioner would serve the sentence as directed by the learned courts below. The fine amount is directed to be remitted to the informant of the case after due identification.

Accordingly, with the aforesaid observations, directions and modification in the sentence, this criminal revision petition is disposed of.

The bail bond furnished by the petitioner-Shyam Sundar Paswan is hereby cancelled.

Let the Lower Court Records be immediately sent back to the court concerned.

Let a copy of this Judgment be communicated to the learned court below through "FAX/e-mail".