Amarchand Tiwari & Ors vs State Of M.P

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1507 of 2008

AMARCHAND TIWARI & ORS. ..... APPELLANTS

VERSUS

STATE OF M.P. ..... RESPONDENT

O R D E R

1. The appellants herein have been convicted under

Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code and whereas

appellant No. 1, 2 and 3 had been sentenced to undergo

rigorous imprisonment for one year, appellant No. 4

Vishnu Prasad, the husband, has been sentenced to

undergo three years rigorous imprisonment. It is the

conceded position that Amarchand Tiwari and Gayatri

Devi, A1 and A3, have already undergone the one year's

sentence whereas A4 has undergone two years and eight

months of the sentence. We, accordingly, feel that the

ends of justice would be met if the sentence of Vishnu

Prasad is reduced to that already undergone by him.

Insofar as appellant No. 2 Navratri Tiwari is

concerned, we find that she was about 17 years of age

as on the date of the F.I.R. She was, accordingly, a

Crl.A. No. 1507 of 2008 2

juvenile on that date. Being a juvenile she could not

have been tried in a Criminal Court along with the

other accused. In normal circumstances, we would have

sent this matter back to the Juvenile Board insofar as

she was concerned but in the light of the fact that

many years have lapsed since the prosecution started,

we find that this procedure is not required to be

resorted to in the present case. In view of the above

facts the trial against Navaratri Devi appellant must

be held to be vitiated and her order of conviction is

accordingly, set aside. She is deemed to be acquitted.

2. No further orders are necessary.

3. The appeal stands disposed of accordingly.

.........................J [HARJIT SINGH BEDI]

........................J [CHANDRAMAULI KR. PRASAD]

NEW DELHI APRIL 26, 2011.