Sameer vs State of Madhya Pradesh

Hon''ble Shri Justice A.K. Shrivastava

Feeling aggrieved by the judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 24.09.1998 passed by learned Third Additional Sessions Judge, Bhopal in S.T. No. 318/1995 convicting the appellant u/s 324 of IPC and thereby sentencing him to suffer RI of six months and fine of Rs. 1000/-in default further RI of one month, this appeal has been preferred by the appellant u/s 374 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. The facts in detail have already narrated by the Trial Court in paras 2 and 3 of the impugned judgment and for convenience they are not being reproduced. Suffice it to say that appellant was charged under Sections 294, 307 /34 IPC, however, he has been convicted u/s 324 IPC and has been directed to suffer imprisonment as mentioned in para 1 of the impugned judgment.

The contention of learned counsel for the appellant is that apart from the appellant other four co-accused were also prosecuted for the charges punishable u/s 147, 307 /149 IPC and also u/s 506 later part and 294 IPC. However, except appellant all other co-accused persons have been acquitted from all the charges. The appellant has been convicted for the offence punishable u/s 324 IPC

On the other hand, learned Public Prosecutor argued in support of the impugned judgment and prayed for dismissal of this appeal.

Having learned counsel for the parties, I am of the view that this appeal deserves to be allowed in part.

In the present case, injured is Wasim (PW-11). I have gone through the statement of this witness and I find that according to him the appellant has dealt a blow of knife on his right hand. The evidence of this witness has been corroborated by the evidence of Dr. Yashwant Kale (PW-5). Since only one injury has been attributed to this witness and which has been corroborated by another Doctor Pankaj Gupta (PW-4), I am of the view that learned Trial Court did not commit any error in convicting the appellant u/s 324 IPC.

Appellant has already suffered jail sentence of 18 days. However, at the same time the interest of injured is also to be seen so that he may also get justice and, therefore, it would be justifiable to enhance the fine amount from Rs. 1000/- to Rs. 3000/-(Rupees three thousand only). Let the balance amount shall be deposited by the appellant on or before 28.2.2013 in the Trial Court, failing which he shall further undergo one month RI. Let the entire amount be paid to injured Wasim, S/o Shri Karimdad Khan, R/o P.G.B.T. College, Bhopal who was examined as PW-11 in the Trial Court towards compensation u/s 357 of Cr. P.C. Learned Trial Court is hereby directed to do the needful in this regard. The bail bonds of this appellant shall stand cancelled only after he deposits entire amount of fine on or before said date.

Appellant is hereby directed to appear before the learned Trial Court on 17.12.2012 and shall deposit the balance amount of fine. If appellant is unable to deposit the balance amount on this date or deposits only part of the entire amount, learned Trial Court shall give a date to him to deposit the remaining amount and if on that date also, the appellant fails to deposit the amount, a further date may be given but that date should not exceed beyond 28.02.2013 and by this date appellant Sameer should deposit the balance fine amount, failing which he shall undergo the jail sentence of one month RI. In case appellant fails to appear before learned Trial Court on 17.12.2012, the Trial Court shall issue notice to his surety and may pass necessary order against him in accordance with law. After depositing the amount of fine or sending the appellant Sameer to jail, the Trial Court shall intimate the Registry of this Court. The Registry is hereby directed to send the original bail bonds papers to learned Trial Court and a photocopy thereof be retained in this file. It is further made clear that after entire amount of fine is deposited by the appellant Sameer his bail bonds shall stand cancelled which shall be paid to injured Resultantly, this appeal succeeds and is hereby allowed in part. The conviction of appellant u/s 324 IPC is hereby affirmed, however, the sentence is hereby modified to the extent indicated hereinabove. Appellant is on bail, his bail bonds shall stand discharged.