Full Judgment Text
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 463 OF 2010
arising out of SLP(Crl.) 8365 of 2009
DEVIDAS SURYAVANSHI & ORS. ..... APPELLANTS
VERSUS
STATE OF MAHARASHTRA ..... RESPONDENT
O R D E R
1. Leave granted.
2. The appellants four in number were convicted
under Section 326 read with Section 34 of the Indian
Penal Code and Section 324 read with Section 34 of the
IPC and were sentenced to suffer rigorous imprisonment
for one year and fine of Rs. 500/- each in default to
suffer rigorous imprisonment for one month and simple
imprisonment for six months and fine of Rs. 200/- each
in default to suffer simple imprisonment for one month
respectively.
3. The incident arose out of a dispute during the
panchayat elections held in the year 1992 wherein the
complainants were the successful party and the accused
appellants' party was defeated. It is this rivalry
th
which led to the incident on 7 November, 1993.
4. During the course of the incident, three persons
P.W. 1 - Haribhau, P.W. 3 Namdev and P.W. 9 Vittal
were injured. While the matter has been pending in
this Court, the parties appear to have compromised the
dispute and a joint affidavit setting out the terms of
the compromise has been filed.
5. It is the contention of Mr. A.K. Shrivastava,
the learned senior counsel for the appellants that in
the light of the judgments of the Court in Surendra
Nath Mohanty & Anr. v. State of Orissa (1999) 5 SCC 238
and Bankat and Another v. State of Maharashtra (2005) 1
SCC 343, the sentence awarded to the appellants should
be reduced to that already undergone although the fine
may be suitably enhanced in the background of the fact
that admittedly the offence under Section 326 of the
IPC was non-compoundable under Section 320 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure.
6. We have gone through the judgments aforesaid and
also heard the learned counsel for the complainant who
is present before us. The judgments do suggest a
decision in terms suggested by Mr. Shrivatava. The
complainant's counsel has also stated that as the
parties have compromised, he would have no objection if
the appeal is disposed of in the suggested terms.
7. We, accordingly, direct that the sentence of the
appellants shall be reduced to that already undergone
as we are told that they have undergone between 1½ to
three months. We also direct that the appellants will
pay a sum of Rs. 3,000/- each as fine and that the
aforesaid amount of Rs. 12,000/- will be paid to P.Ws.
1, 3 and 9in equal shares. The fine be deposited
within a period of three months from today. In case of
failure to deposit the fine within the stipulated
period, the appeal will be deemed to be dismissed.
..................J
[HARJIT SINGH BEDI]
..................J
[C.K. PRASAD]
NEW DELHI
MARCH 10, 2010.