IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

APPELLATE SIDE

Present:

The Hon’ble Justice Prasenjit Biswas

Amanat Laskar@Kochi @ Amanat Ali Laskar

-Versus-

The State of West Bengal & Anr.

For the Appellant : Mr. Sibaji Kumar Das,

Mr. Anirudhha Bhattacharyya,

Ms. Anushka Bose,

Ms. Rai Das,

Mr. Uttam Mukherjee.

For the State : Ms. Baishali Basu,

Md. Kutubuddin.

Hearing concluded on : 16.09.2025 Judgment On : 27.11.2025

Prasenjit Biswas, J:-

1. The impugned judgment and order dated 30.03.2017 passed by the

learned Additional Sessions Judge, 15th Court, Alipore, South 24 Parganas, in Sessions Case No. 87(09)/2003 (Sessions Trial No.

01(07)2006 is assailed in this appeal.

2. By passing the impugned judgment, the present appellant was

found guilty for commission of offence punishable under Section

417 of the Indian Penal Code and he was sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment for six months along with fine of Rs. 50000/- and in default of payment of fine he has to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for six months.

3. Being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the impugned judgment and order of conviction passed by the leaned Trial Court, the present appeal is preferred at the behest of the appellant.

4. The prosecution case, in a nutshell, is as follows:

“From the month of Magh, 1402 B.S. (corresponding to January–February 1996) up to the date of lodging the formal First Information Report on 23.08.1998, the grandmother of the victim/defacto complainant was allegedly subjected to cheating, having been dishonestly induced to part with her property in favour of the appellant’s father. The written complaint further alleges that during this period, the victim was repeatedly raped by the appellant at her residence, where she lived along with her grandmother at village Sohal Gohalia. It is stated that the appellant obtained the victim’s consent forcibly and fraudulently by holding out a false promise of marriage, and thereafter had sexual intercourse with her on several occasions. As a consequence, the victim became pregnant and eventually gave birth to a male child. It is further alleged that despite repeated requests made by the victim and her grandmother for the appellant to marry her, he refused to do so. The victim thereafter filed an application under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure before the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate at Alipore, South 24 Parganas. The Court directed registration of the First Information Report, pursuant to which Baruipur P.S. Case No. 200 of 1998 dated 23.08.1998 was initiated under Sections 420/376/120B of the Indian Penal Code against the appellant. Upon completion of the investigation, the Investigating Agency submitted a charge-sheet under the said sections of the Indian Penal Code.”

5. Charge was framed by the Trial Court against this appellant under

420/376/120B of the Indian Penal Code.

6. In course of trial the prosecution examined as many as eight witnesses and also exhibited a number of documents. Neither any oral nor any documentary evidence was adduced by the side of the defence.

7. Mr. Sibaji Kumar Das, learned Advocate appearing on behalf of the appellant, has forcefully contended that the learned Trial Court gravely erred in assessing the evidence on record and failed to note that the essential ingredients necessary to constitute the offence of cheating under Section 417 of the Indian Penal Code were entirely absent in the present case. According to the learned Advocate, Section 417 IPC cannot be invoked unless the prosecution first establishes the basic elements of Section 415 IPC, namely deception at the inception, coupled with fraudulent or dishonest intention. In the instant case, there is nothing in the evidence which points to any such intention on the part of the appellant.

8. Mr. Das, learned counsel has drawn the attention of this Court to the testimony of PW1, the victim herself, who admitted in her cross-examination that she was fully aware that the appellant was already m