IMPORTANT POINTS
In horrendous crimes like acid attack no leniency can be shown to the accused.
The victim has to be properly compensated.

JUDGMENT

Dipak Misra, J.

In Chetan Dass v. Kamla Devi, (2001) 4 SCC 250 this Court had observed:-

“Matrimonial matters are matters of delicate human and emotional relationship. It demands mutual trust, regard, respect, love and affection with sufficient play for reasonable adjustments with the spouse. The relationship has to conform to the social norms as well. …”

2. Though the aforesaid observations were made in the context of a matrimonial dispute arising out of a proceeding under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 praying for dissolution of marriage by granting a decree of divorce, yet we have commenced our judgment with the same as the facts of the present case painfully project what a relation in close proximity can do to a young girl when his proposal for his marriage is not accepted and he, forgetting the fundamental facet of human dignity and totally becoming oblivious of the fact that marriage, as a social institution, is an affirmance of civilized society order, allows his unrequited love to be converted to complete venom that leads him on the path of vengeance, and the ultimate shape of such retaliation is house trespass by the accused carrying an acid bottle and pouring it over the head of the girl, the appellant herein.

3. The necessary facts. On the basis of the statement of the injured, an FIR under Sections 448 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at police station Vallampudi. The injuries sustained by the victim-informant required long treatment and eventually after recording the statements of the witnesses, collecting various materials from the spot and taking other aspects into consideration of the crime, the investigating agency filed the charge sheet for the offences that were originally registered under the FIR before the competent court which, in turn, committed the matter to the Court of Session, Vizianagaram. The accused abjured his guilt and expressed his desire to face the trial.

4. The prosecution, in order to establish the charges against the accused, examined 12 witnesses and got marked Ex. P1 to P14 besides bringing 11 material objects on record. The defence chose not to examine any witness. It may be noted that on behalf of the defence, one document Ex. D-1, was marked.

5. The learned Assistant Sessions Judge, Vizianagaram did not find the accused guilty under Section 307 IPC but held him guilty under Section 326 and 448 IPC. At the time of hearing of the sentence under Section 235(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the convict pleaded for mercy on the foundation of his support to the old parents, the economic status, social strata to which he belongs and certain other factors. The learned trial judge, upon hearing him, sentenced him to suffer rigorous imprisonment for one year and directed to pay a fine of Rs. 5,000/-with a default clause under Section 326 IPC and sentenced him to pay a fine of Rs. 1000/-for the offence under Section 448 IPC with a default clause.

6. The State preferred Criminal Appeal No. 1731 of 2007 under Section 377(1) CrPC before the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the State of Telangana and the State of Andhra Pradesh for enhancement of sentence. Being grieved by the judgment of conviction and order of sentence, the accused-respondent had preferred Criminal Appeal No. 15 of 2006 before the Sessions Judge, Vizianagaram which was later on transferred to the High Court and registered as Transferred Criminal Appeal No. 1052 of 2013.

7. Both the appeals were heard together by the learned Single Judge who concurred with the view taken by the learned trial judge as regards the conviction. While dealing with the quantum of sentence, the learned Judge opined thus:-

“However, the sentence of imprisonment imposed by the trial Court for the offence under Section 326 I.P.C. is modified to the period which the accused has already undergone, while maintaining the sentence of fine for both the offences.”

8. At the outset, we must note that the S