The Allahabad High Court has upheld the conviction of a 92-year-old man in a criminal assault case dating back to 1982, but modified his sentence to the period already undergone in custody, holding that no useful purpose would be served by sending him back to prison after more than four decades.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Sanjiv Kumar partly allowed the criminal appeal filed by Chhotey Lal in 1984, challenging the judgment of the Sessions Court, Pilibhit, which had convicted him for offences under Sections 323 read with 34 and 324 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The appeal filed by co-convict Roshan Lal stood abated following his death in 2017 during the pendency of the proceedings.
According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on October 30, 1982, when complainant Viqaruddin and his father Gayasuddin visited their agricultural field and found cattle belonging to the accused grazing on their mustard crop.
When they objected, an altercation broke out during which the accused allegedly assaulted both victims. The prosecution alleged that Roshan Lal attacked the complainant with a lathi, Chhotey Lal used a spear, while another accused, Lala Ram, assaulted them with a spade. The victims sustained simple injuries caused by both blunt and sharp-edged weapons.
After evaluating the oral and documentary evidence, the trial court, in August 1984, acquitted Lala Ram by extending the benefit of doubt but convicted Roshan Lal and Chhotey Lal under Sections 323/34 and 324/34 IPC. Both were sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment for the principal offence.
While examining the appeal, the High Court analysed the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and found that the evidence of the complainant, the injured witness and the medical witness consistently established the prosecution’s case.
The Court held that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Chhotey Lal, acting in furtherance of the common intention shared with the other accused, had participated in the assault on the complainant and his father.
The Bench observed that the incident arose out of a sudden quarrel over cattle grazing in the agricultural field and was not the result of any prior enmity, premeditation or intention to cause death.
It noted that the injuries sustained by the victims were simple in nature and had been caused by both blunt and sharp-edged weapons. In these circumstances, the Court held that the trial court had rightly convicted the appellant under Sections 323/34 and 324/34 IPC, as the evidence established that the accused had acted with a common intention while committing the assault.
However, while considering the question of sentence, the High Court took into account several mitigating circumstances, including the appellant’s advanced age of 92 years, his frail physical condition, the minor nature of the offences, the fact that he had already undergone about one month of imprisonment, and the extraordinary delay of more than four decades in the disposal of the criminal appeal.
Holding that the ends of justice would be adequately served by reducing the sentence to the period already undergone, the Court observed that no meaningful purpose would be achieved by directing the appellant to undergo the remaining sentence at this stage of his life.
Accordingly, the High Court affirmed Chhotey Lal’s conviction under Sections 323/34 and 324/34 of the IPC but modified the sentence to the period already undergone in custody, thereby partly allowing the criminal appeal.
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