SASIKUMAR Vs STATE OF KERALA
Bench: AFTAB ALAM,RANJANA PRAKASH DESAI
Case number: Crl.A. No.-001987-001987 / 2012
Diary number: 60436 / 2011
Advocates: SENTHIL JAGADEESAN Vs
JOGY SCARIA
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REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1987 OF 2012 (ARISING OUT OF SLP(CRL.) NO.2025 OF 2012)
SASIKUMAR & ANR. APPELLANTS
VERSUS
STATE OF KERALA RESPONDENT
J U D G M E N T
Aftab Alam, J .
1. Leave granted.
2. The two appellants (who are accused Nos.2 & 3), along with one
Narayanan (accused No.1) have been convicted under Section 8(1) read
with 8(2) of the (Kerala) Abkari Act. They were sentenced by the trial court
to rigorous imprisonment for three years and a fine of Rs.1,00,000/- with the
default sentence of one year rigorous imprisonment. In appeal the High
Court, though maintaining the conviction, reduced the sentence to rigorous
imprisonment for 18 months and the default sentence for failure to pay the
fine, to rigorous imprisonment for a period of six months. The High Court
also directed that the accused would be entitled to get the benefit of set off
under Section 428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
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3. According to the prosecution case, on March 12, 2005 at about 11:15
AM the accused were seen coming in an auto-rickshaw bearing registration
No.KL-03-F-3146. The auto-rickshaw belonged to and it was being driven
by appellant No.2. On seeing the police party, all the three occupants ran
away leaving the auto-rickshaw at the spot. On its inspection, the police
found two (2) 20 litres cans containing 40 litres of arrack lying inside the
auto-rickshaw and, thus, according to the police, the accused had committed
the offence under Section 8(1) of the Abkari Act.
4. The three accused were tried by the Court of the Additional District and
Sessions Judge (Ad-hoc) Fast Track Court-I, Pathanamthitta who, by his
judgment and order dated June 22, 2010 in Sessions Case No.682/2006
convicted and sentenced them, as noted above.
5. The three accused came to the High Court in two separate appeals, being
Criminal Appeal No.1338 of 2010 preferred by the two appellants before
this Court and Criminal Appeal No.2198 of 2010 submitted to the High
Court as jail appeal on behalf of accused No.1 Narayanan. The High Court
disposed of both the appeals by judgment and order dated August 4, 2011.
It maintained their conviction but modified and reduced their sentence, as
noted above.
6. The accused No.1 Narayanan apparently accepted the judgment of the
High Court and has not preferred any special leave petition against the High
Court judgment. The other two accused, i.e., the appellants are before this
Court in the present appeal.
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7. We have heard Mr. R. Basant, learned counsel for the appellants and we
have gone through the materials on record. We find that both the trial court
and the High Court have meticulously considered the evidences led by the
prosecution and have rightly arrived at the conclusion in regard to the
appellants’ guilt. Insofar as the conviction of the appellants under Section
8(1) of the Abkari Act is concerned, there is no scope for any interference
and we uphold the conviction of the appellants as recorded by the trial court
and affirmed by the High Court.
8. Mr. Basant, however, urged before us to take a lenient view in regard to
the sentence awarded to the appellants.
9. On the question of sentence, the High Court in paragraph 19 of its
judgment has made the following observations:-
“It is relevant to note that at the time of registration of the crime, first accused was at the age of 57 and accused Nos.2 and 3 were at the age of 42 and 48 respectively. Now six years are over. Therefore, first accused will be at the age of 63, second accused at the age of 48 and third accused at the age of 54. The prosecution has no case that the accused are habitual offenders. Having regard to the above facts and the mitigating circumstances, I am of the view that the substantial sentence imposed against the accused requires reconsideration. Thus, according to me, 18 months rigorous imprisonment will be sufficient to meet the ends of justice. While confirming the sentence of fine, the default sentence can be reduced to six months. In the result, in modification of sentence imposed by the trial court, the accused are sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 18 months each and to pay fine of Rs.1 lakh each and in default, each of them is directed to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of six months instead of one year rigorous imprisonment ordered by the trial court. The appellants are entitled to get the benefit of set off under Section 428 of Cr.P.C.”
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10. We agree with the view taken by the High Court.
11. We would like to further observe that from the facts of the case
it is evident that the appellants and the other accused in this case are not the
real men behind the nefarious trade of illicit intoxicants in the State. From
the quantity seized from the possession of the accused and the manner in
which it was being carried, it is evident that the three accused were only
small time operators in the illicit trade of arrack and though visible, they
constitute the weakest link in the chain of illicit trade in arrack. In those
circumstances, we think a further reduction of the sentence would be quite
in order. We, accordingly, reduce the sentence of imprisonment from 18
months, as awarded by the High Court, to one year and further reduce the
sentence in default of payment of fine from six months to fifteen days.
12. Accused No.1, Narayanan is not before this Court presumably
on account of poverty, as his appeal to the High Court was also a jail appeal.
We find there is no distinction between the case of the appellants and the
case of accused No. 1 and, accordingly, extend the relief granted to the two
appellants to accused No.1 Narayanan as well.
13. Before parting with the record of the case, we would like to
point out that Section 8(2) of the Abkari Act does not fix any upper limit for
the fine but lays down that the fine shall not be less than Rs.1,00,000/-.
Since the minimum amount of fine prescribed by the law is kept so high, the
courts naturally give the default sentence of imprisonment for a
substantially longer period. As noted above, the trial court has given the
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default sentence of one year which was reduced by the High Court to six
months. We may note that in cases where poor people like the appellants
who may only be the carrier of the arrack or who may be trying to eke out a
living from the illegal trade are caught committing the offence, they are
hardly in position to pay the fine of Rs.1,00,000/- and for them the default
sentence becomes an additional period of incarceration. In a way, fixing the
minimum fine at such a high amount, regardless of the countless possible
variables in the commission of the offence under Section 8(1), leads to
discrimination in favour of those convicts who have sufficient means to pay
the fine and, thus, avoid any default imprisonment and the small fries for
whom the default sentence would invariably mean an additional sentence of
imprisonment. To our mind, it is desirable to leave the Court free in exercise
of judicial discretion in the matter of imposition of fine.
14. In the light of the discussion made above, the appeal is allowed
to the limited extent, as directed above.
………………….....................J (Aftab Alam)
.………………….....................J (Ranjana Prakash Desai)
New Delhi, December 4, 2012