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2019 DIGILAW 989 (ALL)

Vijay Singh v. State of U. P.

2019-04-18

PRADEEP KUMAR SRIVASTAVA

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JUDGMENT : PRADEEP KUMAR SRIVASTAVA, J. 1. Heard Shri Kamlesh Kumar Tripathi, learned counsel for the appellant, Shri L.D. Rajbhar and Prem Shankar Mishra, learned A.G.A. for the State and perused the record. 2. Learned counsel for the appellant has opted to argue on the appeal instead of arguing on the bail application. 3. Learned counsel for the accused-appellant has submitted that the accused-appellant Vijay Singh has been convicted for the offence under section 20(b)(II)(C) NDPS Act for 12 years rigorous imprisonment and Rs. 2,00,000/- fine and in default in payment of fine 02 years additional rigorous imprisonment in S.T. No. 0668 of 2011, arising out case crime No. 046 of 2011, P.S. Anwarganj, District Kanpur Nagar. 4. At the very outset, learned counsel for the appellant has submitted that he will not argue the appeal on the conviction but he will argue the appeal only on the quantum of sentence. He has further submitted that the convicted-accused has already passed more than 8 years in jail and this period may be considered for the whole sentence and the accused may be released on period already undergone. 5. Learned AGA has vehemently opposed the prayer and has also submitted that the convicted-accused has been sentenced for keeping Charas, which comes in commercial quantity for which a minimum sentence of 10 years is prescribed under law. 6. In Mohd. Giasuddin Vs. State of AP, (1977) AIR SC 1926, explaining rehabilitary & reformative aspects in sentencing it has been observed by the Supreme Court: "Crime is a pathological aberration. The criminal can ordinarily be redeemed and the state has to rehabilitate rather than avenge. The sub-culture that leads to ante-social behaviour has to be countered not by undue cruelty but by re-culturization. Therefore, the focus of interest in penology in the individual and the goal is salvaging him for the society. The infliction of harsh and savage punishment is thus a relic of past and regressive times. The human today vies sentencing as a process of reshaping a person who has deteriorated into criminality and the modern community has a primary stake in the rehabilitation of the offender as a means of a social defence. Hence a therapeutic, rather than an 'in terrorem' outlook should prevail in our criminal courts, since brutal incarceration of the person merely produces laceration of his mind. Hence a therapeutic, rather than an 'in terrorem' outlook should prevail in our criminal courts, since brutal incarceration of the person merely produces laceration of his mind. If you are to punish a man retributively, you must injure him. If you are to reform him, you must improve him and, men are not improved by injuries." 7. In Sham Sunder vs Puran, (1990) 4 SCC 731 , where the high court reduced the sentence for the offence under section 304 part I into undergone, the supreme court opined that the sentence needs to be enhanced being inadequate. It was held: "The court in fixing the punishment for any particular crime should take into consideration the nature of offence, the circumstances in which it was committed, the degree of deliberation shown by the offender. The measure of punishment should be proportionate to the gravity of offence." 8. In State of MP vs Najab Khan, (2013) 9 SCC 509 , the high court, while upholding conviction, reduced the sentence of 3 years by already undergone which was only 15 days. The supreme court restored the sentence awarded by the trial court. Referring the judgments in Jameel vs State of UP, (2010) 12 SCC 532 , Guru Basavraj vs State of Karnatak, (2012) 8 SCC 734 , the court observed as follows: "In operating the sentencing system, law should adopt the corrective machinery or the deterrence based on factual matrix. The facts and given circumstances in each case, the nature of the crime, the manner in which it was planned and committed, the motive for commission of the crime, the conduct of the accused, the nature of weapons used and all other attending circumstances are relevant facts which would enter into the area of consideration. We also reiterate that undue sympathy to impose inadequate sentence would do more harm to the justice dispensation system to undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law. It is the duty of court to award proper sentence having regard to the nature of offence and the manner in which it was executed or committed. The courts must not only keep in view the rights of victim of the crime but also the society at large while considering the imposition of appropriate punishment." 9. Earlier, "Proper Sentence" was explained in Deo Narain Mandal Vs. The courts must not only keep in view the rights of victim of the crime but also the society at large while considering the imposition of appropriate punishment." 9. Earlier, "Proper Sentence" was explained in Deo Narain Mandal Vs. State of UP, (2004) 7 SCC 257 by observing that Sentence should not be either excessively harsh or ridiculously low. While determining the quantum of sentence, the court should bear in mind the principle of proportionately. Sentence should be based on facts of a given case. Gravity of offence, manner of commission of crime, age and sex of accused should be taken into account. Discretion of Court in awarding sentence cannot be exercised arbitrarily or whimsically. 10. In subsequent decisions, the supreme court has laid emphasis on proportional sentencing by affirming the doctrine of proportionality. In Shyam Narain vs State (NCT of delhi), (2013) 7 SCC 77 , it was pointed out that sentencing for any offence has a social goal. Sentence is to be imposed with regard being had to the nature of the offence and the manner in which the offence has been committed. The fundamental purpose of imposition of sentence is based on the principle that the accused must realize that the crime committed by him has not only created a dent in the life of the victim but also a concavity in the social fabric. The purpose of just punishment is that the society may not suffer again by such crime. The principle of proportionality between the crime committed and the penalty imposed are to be kept in mind. The impact on the society as a whole has to be seen. Similar view has been expressed in Sumer Singh vs Surajbhan Singh, (2014) 7 SCC 323 , State of Punjab vs Bawa Singh, (2015) 3 SCC 441 , and Raj Bala vs State of Haryana, (2016) 1 SCC 463 . 11. In Kokaiyabai Yadav vs State of Chhattisgarh, (2017) 13 SCC 449 , it has been observed that reforming criminals who understand their wrongdoing, are able to comprehend their acts, have grown and nartured into citizens with a desire to live a fruitful life in the outside world, have the capacity of humanising the world. 12. 11. In Kokaiyabai Yadav vs State of Chhattisgarh, (2017) 13 SCC 449 , it has been observed that reforming criminals who understand their wrongdoing, are able to comprehend their acts, have grown and nartured into citizens with a desire to live a fruitful life in the outside world, have the capacity of humanising the world. 12. In Ravada Sasikala vs. State of A.P., (2017) AIR SC 1166, the Supreme Court referred the judgments in Jameel vs State of UP, (2010) 12 SCC 532 , Guru Basavraj vs State of Karnatak, (2012) 8 SCC 734 , Sumer Singh vs Surajbhan Singh, (2014) 7 SCC 323 , State of Punjab vs Bawa Singh, (2015) 3 SCC 441 , and Raj Bala vs State of Haryana, (2016) 1 SCC 463 and has reiterated that, in operating the sentencing system, law should adopt corrective machinery or deterrence based on factual matrix. Facts and given circumstances in each case, nature of crime, manner in which it was planned and committed, motive for commission of crime, conduct of accused, nature of weapons used and all other attending circumstances are relevant facts which would enter into area of consideration. Further, undue sympathy in sentencing would do more harm to justice dispensations and would undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of law. It is the duty of every court to award proper sentence having regard to nature of offence and manner of its commission. The supreme court further said that courts must not only keep in view the right of victim of crime but also society at large. While considering imposition of appropriate punishment, the impact of crime on the society as a whole and rule of law needs to be balanced. 13. The judicial trend in the country has been towards striking a balance between reform and punishment. The protection of society and stamping out criminal proclivity must be the object of law which can be achieved by imposing appropriate sentence on criminals and wrongdoers. Law, as a tool to maintain order and peace, should effectively meet challenges confronting the society, as society could not long endure and develop under serious threats of crime and disharmony. It is therefore, necessary to avoid undue leniency in imposition of sentence. Thus, the criminal justice jurisprudence adopted in the country is not retributive but reformative and corrective. Law, as a tool to maintain order and peace, should effectively meet challenges confronting the society, as society could not long endure and develop under serious threats of crime and disharmony. It is therefore, necessary to avoid undue leniency in imposition of sentence. Thus, the criminal justice jurisprudence adopted in the country is not retributive but reformative and corrective. At the same time, undue harshness should also be avoided keeping in view the reformative approach underlying in our criminal justice system. 14. Our criminal jurisprudence in the country is based on corrective and reformative approach and it believes that no guilty person is incapable of being reformed. The convicted-accused has passed already more than 8 years in jail and at the time of commission of offence he was 35 years in age. 15. Considering the period of incarceration in jail, if the sentence of imprisonment of 12 years rigorous imprisonment is reduced by 02 years then the purpose of justice will certainly be fulfilled. 16. So far as quantum of fine is concerned, the commercial quantity of charas has been recovered from the convicted-accused and the default sentence in lieu of fine may be reduced from 02 years to 06 months. 17. Accordingly, the conviction is upheld. The sentence is modified and is reduced by 02 years against the awarded sentence of 12 years under NDPS Act and the default sentence in lieu of fine is reduced to 06 months. 18. With this modification, the appeal is finally disposed of. 19. Office is directed to transmit the lower court record along with copy of this judgment to the learned court below for information and necessary compliance as warranted.