New Delhi: A three-decade-old criminal case that arose from an altercation between neighbours over a Rs-500 watch in 1997 has been resolved by the Supreme Court.
A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Arun Palli has closed criminal proceedings under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with the punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, against three convicts.
The top court has noted that two of the three accused died during the pendency of the appeal, while the remaining one is well over 60 years of age.
According to the facts of the case, Padam Singh had sold a watch to his neighbour, Manua, for Rs 500. As Manua did not like the watch, he tried to return it, sparking a scuffle, which soon escalated into serious altercations.
Ramu and Mathu joined Manua and assaulted Singh, who was standing on the edge of a dry canal. The three convicts pushed Singh into the empty canal. It was alleged that the present surviving appellant, Mathu, had given a blow to Singh's head with a heavy stone, because of which he had fallen into the dry canal and was seriously injured. Singh was taken to the Doon Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
A Dehradun court in 2002 found the three men guilty of culpable homicide without the intention to cause death and sentenced them to five years of rigorous imprisonment.
The Uttarakhand High Court, in 2012, upheld the trial court's verdict. The decision was challenged in the apex court in the same year.
The top court pointed out that the incident took place on February 12, 1997, and Mathu is now more than 60 years of age.
"From the materials on record, it is seen that the appellant was, at that point of time, 33 years old. Today, we are in 2026, almost three decades have gone by since then. The appellant is now well over 60 years of age. We have also noted the genesis of the altercation between the deceased and the accused, which escalated into a scuffle, leading to the fall of the deceased into the dry canal.
"All the injuries as noted above, around the face or on the skull of the deceased, clearly occurred because of the fall of the deceased into the dry canal, which had a rock-bed," the bench said.
It added that Mathu had already undergone imprisonment for a year and a half.
"At this distant point of time, we are of the view that it would meet the ends of justice if we alter the sentence of imprisonment from rigorous imprisonment for five years to the period already undergone, while maintaining the conviction," the bench said.
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