Bombay High Court
Uddhav Dyaneshwar Sawant vs State Of Maharashtra on 22 August, 2023
Bench: Bharati Dangre
1/3 2 APEAL 907-23.doc
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 907 OF 2023
WITH
INTERIM APPLICATION NO. 2908 of 2023
IN
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 907 OF 2023
Uddhav Dyaneshwar Sawant .. Appellant
Versus
State of Maharashtra .. Respondent
...
Mr. Sachin Thorat for the appellant.
Mr.S.S.Holke, APP for the State.
CORAM: BHARATI DANGRE, J.
DATED : 22nd AUGUST, 2023
P.C:-
Appeal No. 907/2023
1 Heard. Admit.
Call for R & P.
2 Learned APP waive notice for the State.
IA No.2908/2023
3 By the present application, the applicant who stand
convicted by the impugned judgment dated 7/7/2023 passed by
the learned Judge, Malshiras, District Solapur, seek suspension of
sentence imposed upon him on being convicted u/s.353 and 466
Tilak
::: Uploaded on - 23/08/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 24/08/2023 03:32:52 :::
2/3 2 APEAL 907-23.doc
of the IPC and also pray for his release on bail on such terms and
conditions, as the Court may deem fit.
4 Heard learned counsel for the appellant/applicant and
perused the impugned judgment.
The appellant/accused face a charge of interpolating
the record of Talathi at village Kolegaon, and it is alleged that the
accused by reporting to the office of the informant, snatched the
Register from her and attempted to scribe in the same. The
accused face accusation that he had written names of three
persons by black pen in the rights column. This resulted in he
being charged u/s.466 of the IPC along with Section 353 as he
attempted to create obstacle in the informant discharging her duty
as public servant.
5 The impugned judgment when perused expresses a
suspicion and though the handwriting expert report is found to be
inconclusive as regards the entries taken in the 7/12 extracts, the
learned Judge concluded that there is a possibility that the words
in the record are written in a different manner, and in any case,
the report of the handwriting expert cannot be said to be
conclusive.
Necessarily, the burden to prove that the applicant/
accused who has inscribed the words in the record lies, on the
prosecution and unless and until the same is proved, the offence
u/s.466 cannot be made out and this is a specific submission of
Tilak
::: Uploaded on - 23/08/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 24/08/2023 03:32:52 :::
3/3 2 APEAL 907-23.doc
the learned counsel for the applicant while arguing the appeal,
which is admitted today on the said point.
6 Considering the fixed sentence imposed upon him
and since it is the specific submission of the learned counsel that
he has deposited the fine imposed upon him, in the wake of the
decision in Bhagwan Rama Shinde Gosai & Os Vs. State of
Gujarat (1999) 4 SCC 421, since there is no prohibition for
suspending the sentence and releasing the applicant on bail and
since it is informed that the applicant was on bail during the trial,
and he has not misused the liberty conferred on him, I deem it
appropriate to allow the Interim Application by the following
order :-
ORDER
(i) The sentence imposed on the applicant vide
judgment dated 7/7/2023 passed by the Addl. Sessions
Judge, Malshiras, District Solapur, is suspended.
(ii) The Applicant shall be released on bail on furnishing
P.R. bond to the extent of Rs.25,000/- with one or two
sureties of the like amount.
(iii) The applicant shall keep the Investigating Officer
informed and updated about his contact number and
address.
( SMT. BHARATI DANGRE, J.)
Tilak
