The High Court of Chhattisgarh addressed a key issue regarding the applicability of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The Court held that without proper certification or verification establishing that the victim or deceased belonged to the Scheduled Caste community, the trial court erred in convicting and sentencing the accused/appellants under Section 3(2)(v) of the Atrocities Act.
This decision came in the wake of an appeal filed by the appellants/accused under Section 374(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, challenging the judgment of conviction and sentencing order passed by the Special Judge (S.C./S.T. Prevention of Atrocities Act) on 30th January 2021. The High Court partly allowed the appeal, finding grave legal irregularities in the lower court's ruling.
Brief Facts:
After an argument, the accused Shivshankar and Shivlal entered Mayaram's house and started beating Mayaram with a stick. Later, the accused Shivshankar, with the intention of killing Vinay Prasad, hit him with a sword on his head, due to which Vinay Prasad suffered a serious head injury and died on the spot. A case was registered under sections 302, 452, and 323 read with 34 IPC against the accused. The trial Court acquitted the co-accused Shivlal but convicted and sentenced the accused/appellants against which this criminal appeal has been filed.
Contentions of the Appellant:
The Learned Counsel for the Appellant submitted that the Learned Trial Court was absolutely unjustified in convicting the appellant for the offense under Section 302/34 of the IPC as there was no reason or any motive proved by the prosecution to do such type of crime. He argued that it is a fit case where the conviction of the appellants for the offense under Section 302 of the IPC can be converted/altered to an offense under Section 304.
Contentions of the Respondent:
The Learned Counsel for the Respondent submitted that it is not a case where the appellant’s conviction under Section 302/34 of the IPC can be altered/converted under Section 304 Part-I or Part-II of the IPC and as such, the instant criminal appeal deserves to be dismissed.
Observations of the court:
The court noted that the trial Court convicted the accused/appellants under Section 3(2)(v) of the Atrocities Act and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The Court observed that since the Caste Certificate was not duly certified, the trial court, only on the basis of not disputing the caste of the deceased by the accused persons, convicted and sentenced them. The Court said that without any certification or verification that the victim or deceased belonged to the Scheduled Caste community, the learned trial Court committed grave illegality in convicting and sentencing the accused/appellants under Section 3(2)(v) of the Atrocities Act.
The decision of the Court:
The Chhattisgarh High Court, partly allowing the appeal, held that the conviction of the appellants under Section 302/34 of the IPC is set aside, however, they are convicted under Section 304 Part-I/34 of the IPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.
Case Title: Shivshankar Prajapati & Anr. vs. State of Chhattisgarh
Coram: Hon’ble Justice Ramesh Sinha and Hon’ble Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal
Case No.: CRA No. 305 of 2021
Advocate for the Appellant: Mr. Pushkar Sinha
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. Shashank Thakur
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