Ramavtar vs State

Heard learned counsel for the appellant and learned Public Prosecutor and perused the material available on record.

The instant second application for suspension of sentence under Section 389 CrPC has been preferred on behalf of the appellant-applicant Ramavtar, who has been convicted and sentenced by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Rajgarh, District Churu in Sections Case No.14/2006 by judgment dated 25.5.2017.

The applications for suspension of sentence filed on behalf of co-accused Ramesh and Anil have been accepted by this court vide orders dated 06.03.2019 and 05.04.2019 respectively. It may be stated here that there is a factual error in both these orders regarding non-identification of the accused because these two accused were unquestionably identified by two witnesses Kishor Kumar (P.W.2) and Gopal Swami (P.W.3).

Be that as it may. The accused appellant has remained in custody for a period of nearly 3 years. Hearing of the appeal is unlikely in the near future. Learned Public Prosecutor has not been able to point out any criminal antecedents of the appellant-applicant herein. Thus, having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, this court is inclined to suspend the sentences awarded to the accused appellant by accepting the instant second application for suspension of sentence.

Accordingly, the second application for suspension of sentence filed under Section 389 Cr.P.C. is allowed and it is ordered that the sentences passed by the learned Additional Sessions Judge, Rajgarh, District Churu vide judgment dated 25.05.2017 passed in Sessions Case No.14/2006 against the appellant-applicant Ramavtar S/o Ishwar Singh shall remain suspended till final disposal of the aforesaid appeal and he shall be released on bail, provided he executes a personal bond in the sum of Rs.50,000/- with two sureties of Rs.25,000/- each to the satisfaction of the learned trial Judge for his appearance in this court on 20.06.2019 and whenever ordered to do so till the disposal of the appeal on the conditions indicated below:-

That he will appear before the trial Court in the month of January of every year till the appeal is decided.

That if the applicant changes the place of residence, he will give in writing his changed address to the trial Court as well as to the counsel in the High Court.

Similarly, if the sureties change their address(s), they will give in writing their changed address to the trial Court.

The learned trial Court shall keep the record of attendance of the accused-applicant in a separate file. Such file be registered as Criminal Misc. Case related to original case in which the accused-applicant was tried and convicted. A copy of this order shall also be placed in that file for ready reference. Criminal Misc. file shall not be taken into account for statistical purposes relating to pendency and disposal of cases in the trial court. In case the said accused applicant does not appear before the trial court, the learned trial Judge shall report the matter to the High Court for cancellation of bail.