For the offences punishable under Sections 451 and 353 of the IPC, the appellant was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year each and for the offence punishable under Section 333 of IPC, he was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for two years with a fine of 2,000/-. Secondly, he submitted that the incident complained occurred on 1 December 1992 and during the period of the last thirty and a half years, during the pendency of the trial and appeal, the appellant was all throughout on bail.
A written complaint was made by Ms Sajni Batra (PW-1) on 1 December 1992 to the Police.
On 1 December 1992, PW-6 was conducting an official meeting in his chamber in the presence of PW-1 and other officers.
Evidence of PW-1 and PW-2 Hemraj (a peon working in the Office of the Commissioner) indicated that the appellant had sent a slip of her name to PW-6 which was kept on the table of PW-6 as she wanted to meet him. At the same time, we cannot ignore that the appellant indulged in the objectionable act of entering the chamber of PW-6 who was discharging his official duty as a public servant.
Also Read: https://newslaw.in/supreme-court/extension-of-benefit-of-doubt-in-criminal-convictions/
The offence punishable under Section 353 of using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty attracts punishment of imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years, or with a fine, or with both.
Hence, we propose to bring down the sentence of the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 333 to simple imprisonment for one month.
For the offence punishable under Section 333 of the IPC, the appellant shall undergo simple imprisonment for one month and pay a fine of 30,000/- within one month from today.
For the offence punishable under Section 451 of the IPC, the appellant shall undergo simple imprisonment for one month and to pay a fine of 25,000/- within a period of one month from today.
Also Read: https://newslaw.in/supreme-court/vicarious-liability-under-section-34-of-ipc/
The appeal is partly allowed on above terms.
Case Title: RAZIA KHAN Vs. THE STATE OF M.P. (2023 INSC 667)
Case Number: Crl.A. No.-002259-002259 / 2023
