JUDGMENT

Swatanter Kumar, J. —

Three accused, namely Dharambir @ Pappu, Prem Prakash @ Lillu and Herchand @ Poley, were charged for an offence punishable under Sections 366 and 376(2)(g) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short the ‘IPC’). Upon trial, the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Rohtak, by judgment and order dated 31st July, 1992 held all the three accused guilty of the offences of kidnapping and gang rape of Kumari Sudesh and, thus, they were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment of 10 years with a fine of Rs.500/- each. In case of default of payment of fine, they were ordered to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a further period of one month. The accused were also awarded two years’ rigorous imprisonment each for the offence committed under Section 366 of the IPC. Both the substantial sentences were ordered to run concurrently. Dissatisfied with the judgment of the trial court, the accused preferred an appeal before the High Court. The High Court found no merit in the appeal and consequently, dismissed the same vide its judgment dated 27th July, 2005, giving rise to the present appeal by all the accused.

2. The learned counsel for the appellants pointed out that