Hansraj vs State

Accused-appellant has preferred this third application under Section 389 Cr.P.C. seeking suspension of sentence awarded by learned trial Court, while indicting him for offence punishable under Section 8 read with Section 15 of the NDPS Act. Learned trial Court, while convicting the appellant for said offence, has handed down sentence of 15 years' rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs.1,50,000 lakhs and in default of payment of fine to undergo one year's rigorous imprisonment.

First application for suspension of sentence of the appellant was dismissed as not pressed on 1st of February, 2018. Second application was subsequently rejected on 6th of of September, 2018 as not pressed.

Arguing on this third application for suspension of sentence, it is submitted by learned counsel for the applicant-appellant that appellant has already undergone sentence of more than five years and therefore, considering prolonged custody of the appellant, his application for suspension of sentence merits favourable consideration. It is further argued by learned counsel that final hearing of the appeal is not possible in near future. For prolonged custody of the appellant, learned counsel has placed reliance on a decision of Supreme Court in Thana Singh Vs. CBN [2013(2) SCC 590]. It is also submitted that sentence handed down to co-accused, Subhashchandra, has already been suspended by this Court and the case of present applicant-appellant is not distinguishable from him. Lastly, learned counsel submits that besides conviction in the present matter, there is no other criminal antecedent of the applicant-appellant.

Learned Special Public Prosecutor has vehemently opposed the application for suspension of sentence.

I have bestowed my consideration to the arguments advanced at Bar and also taken into account the prolonged custody of the appellant.

Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case , I feel inclined to accept this application for suspension of sentence.

Accordingly, the third application for suspension of sentence filed under Section 389 Cr.P.C. is allowed and it is ordered that the sentence passed by learned Special Judge, NDPS Act Cases, Phalodi, District Jodhpur, vide judgment dated 30th of January, 2017, in Sessions Case No.36/2016 against appellant-applicant, Hansraj S/o Mohanram, shall remain suspended till final disposal of the aforesaid appeal and he shall be released on bail provided he executes a personal bond in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- with two sureties of like amount to the satisfaction of the learned trial Judge for his appearance in this Court on 07.03.2019 and whenever ordered to do so till disposal of the appeal, on the conditions indicated below:-

That he will appear before the trial Court in the month of January every year till the appeal is decided.

That if the applicant changes the place of residence, he will give in writing his changed address to the trial Court as well as to the counsel in the High Court.

Similarly, if the sureties change their address(s), they will give in writing their changed address to the trial Court.

The learned trial Court shall keep the record of attendance of accused-applicant in a separate file. Such file be registered as Criminal Misc. Case related to original case in which the accused- applicant was tried and convicted. A copy of this order shall also be placed in that file for ready reference. Criminal Misc. file shall not be taken into account for statistical purposes relating to pendency and disposal of cases in the trial Court. In case the said accused applicant does not appear before the trial Court, the learned trial Judge shall report the matter to the High Court for cancellation of bail.