Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Kanhaiya Lal Banjara vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 20 January, 2023
Bench: S. Ravindra Bhat, Dipankar Datta
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO(S).189 OF 2023
(Arising from SLP(Crl.) No(S). 551 of 2023)
KANHAIYA LAL BANJARA Appellant(s)
VERSUS
THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH Respondent(s)
O R D E R
Leave granted.
In an incident that occurred on 05.03.1997, the complainant was attacked by the appellant. Both the appellant and the complainant were traversing a narrow pathway. The complainant protested that the appellant would cause damage to his roof. The appellant thereupon assaulted the complainant which resulted with lathi blow which ultimately resulted in the latter falling down unconscious, the accused followed it up with other blows on the complainant’s hand. The appellant was accused of committing offences on several counts including Section 307 and 325 Indian Penal Code etc. Eventually, he was convicted of the offence under Section 307 IPC.
Upon his appeal, the High Court taking note of the nature of the injuries (in para 5 which recounted the evidence adduced by Signature Not Verified Digitally signed by Jayant Kumar Arora Date: 2023.01.21 13:00:52 IST Reason: the Doctor) modified the conviction to one under Section 325 and reduced the sentence to three years’ rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs. 5000/.
2This Court had issued notice to the respondents including the complaint taking note of the fact the offence had occurred 25 years ago. Furthermore, the offence is compoundable.
Learned counsel for the respondent submits he has instructions not to oppose the request for compounding. Counsel for the State too does not voice any objection.
Learned counsel for the appellant relied upon a judgment in Dasan v. State of Kerala1 where in somewhat similar circumstances, the offence under Section 325 was permitted to be condoned. The Court had then relied upon an earlier judgment in Ram Shankar v. State of UP2.
Having regard to the submissions made on behalf of the parties, this Court is of the considered view that the offence in this case should be compounded. The judgment is hereby set aside. The Appellant is accordingly acquitted; he shall be set a liberty forthwith unless required in any other case.
The appeal is accordingly allowed.
Pending application(s), if any, are disposed of.
………………………………………………………………..J. [S. RAVINDRA BHAT] ……………………………………………………………...J. [DIPANKAR DATTA] New Delhi January 20, 2023.
1 (2014) 12 SCC 666
2 (1982) 3 SCC 388
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ITEM NO.43 COURT NO.14 SECTION II-A
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No(s). 551/2023
(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 06-04-2022 in CRLA No. 2687/1998 passed by the High Court Of M.p Principal Seat At Jabalpur) KANHAIYA LAL BANJARA Petitioner(s) VERSUS THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH Respondent(s) IA No. 196772/2022 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.) Date : 20-01-2023 This matter was called on for hearing today. CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S. RAVINDRA BHAT HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DIPANKAR DATTA For Petitioner(s) Mr. Harmeet Singh Ruprah, AOR For Respondent(s) Mr. Shantanu Krishna, AOR Mr. Sidharth Sarthi, Adv. Mr. Animesh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Shashank Shukla, Adv.
Mr. Harmeet Singh Ruprah, AOR Mr. Rushant Malhotra, Adv.
Mr. V. K. Shukla, Adv.
Mr. Sugam Mishra, Adv.
Mr. Manish Tiwari, Adv.
Mr. Sunny Chaudhary, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R The appeal is allowed in terms of the signed order.
Pending application(s), if any, is/are disposed of.
(DEEPAK JOSHI) (MATHEW ABRAHAM) COURT MASTER (SH) COURT MASTER (NSH)
(Signed order is placed on the file)