Purushottam vs State Of Rajasthan

Petitioner has preferred this Criminal Revision Petition aggrieved by judgment & order dated 11.07.2017 passed by Chief Judicial Magistrate, Karauli (Ra.), whereby petitioner has been convicted for offence under Section 279, 337, 338, 304-A of I.P.C. and Section 183 and 184 of the M.V. Act and has been sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment of six months and a fine of Rs.500/- for offence under Section 279 I.P.C., on non payment of fine, to further undergo two months imprisonment and for offence under Section 337 I.P.C., petitioner has been sentenced to six months simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs.500/-, on non payment of fine to further undergo one month imprisonment and for offence under Section 338 I.P.C., petitioner has been sentenced to two years simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs.1,000/-, on non payment of fine to further undergo two months additional imprisonment and for offence under Section 304-A of I.P.C., petitioner has been sentenced to two years simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs.1,000/-, on non payment of fine to further undergo six months additional imprisonment and for offence under Section 183 of M.V. Act, petitioner was directed to deposit the fine of Rs.400/-, on non payment of fine, to further undergo one month's additional imprisonment and for offence under Section 184 of M.V. Act, petitioner was directed to deposit the fine of Rs.1,000/-, on non payment of fine to further undergo one month's additional imprisonment for the offences separately and against the judgment & order dated 13.07.2018 passed by Sessions Judge, Karauli (Raj.), whereby appeal preferred by the petitioner was rejected.

Counsel for the petitioner does not want to press the present Criminal Revision Petition on merits. Her contention is that the petitioner has faced the agony of trial for a period of more than seven years and the matter is of the year 2011. Petitioner has remained in custody for a period of about six months. The accident did not take place because of rash and negligent act of the petitioner. Petitioner was driving the tractor with the trolly and a motor-cycle was parked on the side of the road. At 2:30 am when the tractor was on the slope, in order to protect the motorcycle, petitioner turned the tractor and the trolly got overturned, as a result of which three persons died.

It is also prayed by the counsel for the petitioner that the sentence be reduced to the period already undergone by the petitioner.

Counsel for the petitioner has placed reliance on "Nitin vs. State of Rajasthan" (S.B. Criminal Revision Petition No.1744/2018) decided by this Court on 04.12.2018, wherein this Court had reduced the sentence from two years to six months while increasing the amount of fine.

Learned Public Prosecutor has opposed the present Criminal Revision Petition.

I have considered the contentions.

The Hon'ble Apex Court in State of Punjab vs. Saurabh Bakshi (2015) 5 SCC 182 had reduced the sentence from one year to six months.

Since counsel for the petitioner is not challenging the conviction and her argument is confined to the sentence; taking note of the fact that at wee hours of the night, when a motorcycle was parked on the side of the road, the petitioner who was driving the tractor in order to save the motor-cycle, tried to turn the tractor and the trolly over turned, I deem it proper to reduce the sentence awarded to the petitioner.

The present Criminal Revision Petition is accordingly partly allowed. While upholding the judgment of conviction passed by the Court below, the sentence awarded to the petitioner is reduced from two years to six months. Sentence in lieu of non payment of fine as awarded by the Court below remains unaltered.

Application for suspension of sentence stands disposed.