Judgement

FAZL ALI J. : The only question to be decided in this appeal relates to the sentence imposed on the appellant, and it arises in the following manner. The appellant was tried by a Magistrate of Jabalpur on the charge of having committed an offence under S. 377, Penal Code and was found guilty. While sentencing the appellant, the Magistrate observed as follows :

"The accused is a first offender of 18 years of age. A deterrent sentence would be highly inappropriate in this case. I accordingly order that the accused shall receive 10 stripes under S. 4(b), Whipping Act in lieu of the sentence provided under S. 377, I. P. C."

The sentence imposed on the appellant was upheld by the Sessions Judge of Jabalpur, but, in revision, the Madhya Pradesh High Court pointed out that the sentence of whipping was illegal since the appellant was not a juvenile offender and the only other relevant provision of the Whipping Act was S. 4(b) which was not applicable to this case. Section 4(b) provides that a sentence of whipping can be passed only in those cases where a person compels or induces another by fear or bodily injury to submit to an unnatural offence, but that was not the case here. The