2 decades on, man sentenced to 2 years RI

Strap: Had not spent a single day in police or judicial custody

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 23

A man, who did not spend even a single day either in the police or judicial custody, has been sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a nearly two-decade old attempt to murder case. The case was registered following an alleged fight over a small container.

In all, four accused were convicted by the trial court. Two of the accused were sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment for attempt to murder under Section 307 of the IPC, while the others were sentenced to two years. The sentences awarded under other Sections of the IPC were to run concurrently.

An FIR in the matter was registered in April 2004, the order of conviction and sentence was passed by Gurdaspur Additional Sessions Judge, (Adhoc), Fast Track Court, in February 2004 and the case was pending in the high court since then. Justice Sureshwar Thakur took two hearings to decide the case. Senior advocate GK Mann with Gursewak Singh and Akashdeep Singh assisted the Bench.

The delay may sound exceptional, but is not extraordinary. National Judicial Data Grid figures reveal that the high court, as of now, has more than 4,48,600 pending cases, including 1,65,126 criminal matters. It is suspected that many of the petitioners in these cases are no more there to pursue their grievances. When some of these cases are suddenly listed, the counsels are often at a loss in the absence of complete records or instructions.

The high court currently has 50 judges against the sanctioned strength of 85. A judge is scheduled to retire on December 30 upon attaining the age of superannuation.

The incident dates back to April 2002. Four persons, including the accused, were sitting on the bank of a minor canal, waiting for their combine harvesters. They asked a person for water, which was brought in a small container (dollu). A fight erupted when the “dollu” was not returned later during the day.

Justice Thakur observed one of the accused Joginder Singh was no more. As such his appeal stood dismissed as abated. Justice Thakur added the verdict of conviction stood affirmed against others. Since a settlement/compromise was reached between the accused and the complainant party during the pendency of the appeals, the sentences already undergone by the convicts was deemed to be imposed upon them. The only exception was accused Sukhdeep Singh, “who had not spent a single day either in police custody or judicial custody”.