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Showing contexts for: section 353 of cr.p.c in Manoj Kumar vs State Of Chhattisgarh on 23 February, 2001Matching Fragments
4. After going through the judgment passed by the learned Appellate Court, Shri Gautam Bhaduri learned counsel for the State, was unable to support the same. He however submitted that instead of deciding the matter on merits, the same be remitted to the first Appellate Court or to the learned Sessions Court for its fresh hearing and disposal in accordance with the law.
5. Section 353 of the Code of Criminal Procedure reads as under :--
"353. (1) The judgment in every trial in any Criminal Court of original jurisdiction shall be pronounced in open Court by the presiding officer immediately after the termination of the trial or at some subsequent time of which notice shall be given to the parties on their pleaders,--
(6) Every order under Section 117 or sub-section (2) of Section 138 and every final order made under Section 125, Section 145 or Section 147 shall contain the point or points for determination, the decision thereon and the reasons for the decisions."
7. Section 353, Cr.P.C. provides the manner in which a judgment is to be delivered. Section 354, Cr.P.C. declares what a judgment should contain. 'Judgment' means, the expression of the opinion of the Judge or Magistrate, arrived at after due consideration of the evidence and of the arguments.
16. A fair reading of Section 354, Cr.P.C. would make it abundantly clear that unless otherwise expressly provided by the Code of Criminal Proce-
dure, every judgment referred to in Section 353, Cr.P.C. shall be written in the language of the Court, should contain the points for determination, the decision thereon and the reasons for the decision. A Court is obliged to specify the offence (if any) of which, and the Section of Indian Penal Code, or other law under which, the accused is convicted and the punishment to which he is sentenced. If it be a judgment of acquittal, then the Court is obliged to state the offence of which the accused is acquitted and the Court is duty bound to direct that he be set at liberty. Sub-section (3) of Section 354, Cr.P.C. casts a duty on the Court to give reasons which persuaded it to record certain findings, so that the Appellate or Revisional Court is in a position to judge whether the Trial/ Appellate Court had exercised its discretion judicially.
17. When the judgment of the Court below is examined on the anvil of Sections 353 and 354, Cr.P.C. it would fail to satisfy all and every test.
18. The judgment delivered by the Court below cannot be termed to be a judgment in accordance with Sections 353 and 354, Cr.P.C. It shows absolute non-application of mind. The judgment is bad on the facts, so also in view of the legal provisions.
19. Assuming present was a case where the appeal was argued only on the question of sentence, then too the Appellate Court was obliged to record the findings and instead of straight-way jumping to the question of sentence it should have first appreciated the facts, record a finding and thereafter looking to the totality of the circumstances and taking into consideration the nature of the offence, the manner in which it was committed and the station of the accused in the life, his status, etc., should have considered the question of sentence. If present was a case of plea-bargaining, then the judgment again would be bad because the Supreme Court had been repeatedly saying that plea-bargaining is bad. A person, if is not guilty, is required to be acquitted and if a person is found guilty, then sentence in accordance with law and in view of the totality of the circumstances must be awarded. The judgment delivered by the learned Court below does not meet the mandatory requirement of law. It deserves to and is accordingly set-aside. The Appellate Court is hereby directed to restore the appeal to its original number and decide the same in accordance with law after hearing the parties.