Sunil @ Sheenu vs State of Haryana - 2023 Supreme(P&H) 2893

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2023 Supreme(P&H) 2893

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
RITU BAHRI, KULDEEP TIWARI, JJ.
Sunil @ Sheenu – Petitioner
Versus
State of Haryana – Respondent
CRM NO. 5434 of 2023 IN CRA-D-995 of 2019
Decided On : 04-07-2023

Advocates Appeared:
Mr. Mayur Karkra, Advocate; For the Appellant
For the Respondent: Mr. Pawan Girdhir, Addl. AG Haryana.

Headnote:(A) Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 - Section 389 - Indian Penal Code, 1860 - Section 377 - Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 - Suspension of sentence application - Applicant sentenced to life imprisonment and fine under specific sections - Applicant has served over 5 years of actual sentence including under trial period, indicating eligibility for suspension as per the ratio of previous judgment cited. (Paras 2, 3, 5)

Facts of the case:
Application for suspension filed by the applicant-appellant after serving more than 5 years in relation to a conviction under the mentioned sections. State presented custody certificate corroborating time served.

Findings of Court:
Applicant is eligible for bail given length of service and appeal likely to take time.

Issues: Whether the applicant-appellant is entitled to suspension of sentence based on time served.

Ratio Decidendi: The court ruled that the substantial time served by the applicant, aligned with precedents, justified suspension without commenting on the case merits.

Result: Application for suspension of sentence allowed.

Table of Content
1. application for suspension of sentence under section 389 cr.p.c. (Para 1 , 2)
2. counsel argues for suspension based on prior custody. (Para 3)
3. court allows suspension of sentence based on previous case. (Para 4 , 5)

JUDGMENT

Kuldeep Tiwari, J.

This is the first application, under Section 389 Cr.P.C., for suspension of sentence of the applicant-appellant, during the pendency of the appeal.

2. The applicant-appellant has been sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of Rs.20,000/- and in default of payment of fine, to further undergo simple imprisonment for a period of one month under Section 377 IPC read with section 3(2)(v) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 by the learned trial Court vide judgment of conviction and order of sentence dated 28.8.2019.

3. At the very outset, the learned counsel for the applicant-appellant submits that the applicant-appellant has undergone more than 5 years of his actual sentence. He further places reliance upon a judgment of this Court passed in the case of " Dharam Pal v. State of Haryana , 1999(4) RCR (Criminal) 600".

4. The learned State counsel placed on record the custody certificate dated 3.7.2023 issued by the Deputy Superintendent, District Prison, Kaithal. A perusal of the custody certificate shows that the applicant-appellant has undergone actual custody period of 3 years, 10 months and 5 days after conviction and his total actual undergone period including his under trial comes out to be 5 years, 3 months and 1 day. As per the custody certificate, the applicant-appellant is also involved in one more case, however, in that case he has been acquitted.

5. We have perused the custody certificate, placed on record by the learned State counsel. As per the custody certificate, the applicant-appellant has undergone total sentence of more than 5 years and his case is squarely covered by the ratio of the judgment in Dharam Pal's case (Supra). The appeal pertains to the year of 2019 which is not likely to be heard in near future. Therefore, the present application is allowed, but without meaning to comment anything on merits of the appeal. The remaining sentence of the applicant-appellant shall remain suspended during pendency of the appeal and he shall be released on bail to the satisfaction of learned Chief Judicial Magistrate/Duty Magistrate concerned.

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