Supreme Court: In a criminal special leave to appeal against Andhra Pradesh High Court’s Judgment, whereby the criminal appeal was dismissed and the conviction order by the Trial Court was upheld, the Division Bench of JK Maheshwari and Sanjay Karol, JJ. allowed the application of convict 3, seeking suspension of the sentence, considering the fact that convict 3 was in custody for the last 14 years.
Background
On 23-11-2008, the convict 1, his son-in-law (convict 2), grandson (convict 3), daughter (convict 4) and wife (convict 5) had a dispute with the deceased when the family members of the deceased objected to convicts 4 and 5 placing debris on their portion of the land and convicts 4 and 5 were disrobed by both the deceased. The case before the Trial Court was that convicts 4 and 5 held the deceased tightly and convicts 3 and 4 stabbed the deceased with daggers. When the other deceased intervened, convicts 3 and 4 stabbed him and convict 1 attacked with the axe.
The Trial Court framed the charges under Sections 147, 148, 302 read with Section 149 of the Penal Code, 1860 (‘IPC’). The Trial Court sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year each for the offence punishable under Section 147 of the IPC; and convicts 1, 2 and 3 were sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of two years each and to pay a fine of Rs.500/- for the offence punishable under Section 148 of the IPC; convicts 2 and 3 were sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life each and to pay a fine of Rs.2000/- each for the offence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC.
The High Court dismissed the criminal appeal and upheld the Trial Court’s decision. Convict 3 was taken into custody on 22-11-2011 and has remained in custody for the last 14 years. Convicts 1, 4 and 5 were released as per the State’s remission policy. Convict 3 sought suspension of the sentence before the Court.
Order
The Court allowed the application seeking suspension of the sentence, considering that convict 3 was in custody for the last 14 years and that the other convicts were granted remission by the State. Therefore, the Court suspended the sentence of convict 3 for offences under Section 147, 148, 302 read with Section 149 of the IPC subject to the furnishing of the bail bond of Rs.50,000/- and other conditions as may be deemed fit and imposed by the Trial Court.
[Molakala Narayanaswamy Reddy v. The SHO, G. R. Palli Police Station, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 275, Order dated: 01-03-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For Petitioner: Advocate Tanvi Dubey, Advocate Mekala Ganesh Kumar Reddy, AOR Charu Mathur
For Respondent: AOR Mahfooz Ahsan Nazki, Advocate Polanki Gowtham, Advocate K V Girish Chowdary, Advocate T Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Advocate Rajeswari Mukherjee, Advocate Meeran Maqbool, Advocate Archita Nigam, Advocate V Ram Mohan Reddy
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