Mahaveer Berwa vs State Of Chhattisgarh
2022 Latest Caselaw 1164 Chatt

                HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH, BILASPUR

                                  Order Sheet

                              CRA No. 77 of 2020

1. Mahaveer Berwa, S/o Babulal Berwa, Aged About 36 Years, Occupation -
   Labour,

2. Babulal, S/o Bhanwarlal, Aged About 55 Years, Occupation - Labour,

3. Kera Bai, W/o Babulal Berwa, Aged About 50 Years, Occupation - House-
   Wife, All appellants are R/o - Village - Kherli Berisal, P.S. - Khatoli, District -
   Kota, Rajasthan.

                                                                      ---- Appellants

                                     Versus

• State of Chhattisgarh, Through - Police Station - Chakradharnagar, District -
  Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, Crime No. - 199/2016.

                                                                    ---- Respondent

04.03.2022 Mr. Pushkar Sinha, counsel for the Appellant/s.

Mr. Himanshu Sharma, P.L. for the State/Respondent. Heard on I.A. No. 01/2022, application for suspension of sentence and grant of bail to appellant No. 01 namely Mahaveer Berwa.

First application of appellant No. 01 (Mahaveer Berwa) was dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to revive the same after one year in CRA No. 77 of 2020 vide order dated 04.09.2020.

By the impugned judgment dated 25.11.2019 passed in Crime No. 199/2016 by learned Special Judge {Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act}, Raigarh, District- Raigarh (C.G.) the appellant No. 01 (Mahaveer Berwa) stands convicted as mentioned below:

        Conviction            Sentence          In Default

u/S 376 of IPC         RI for 07 years and In    default       of
                       fine    amount    of payment    of    fine
                       Rs.1,000/-.         amount     additional
                                           RI for 03 months.

u/S 370 of IPC         RI for 07 years and In    default       of
                       fine    amount    of payment    of    fine
                       Rs.1,000/-.         amount     additional
                                           RI for 03 months.

Learned counsel for appellant No. 01 (Mahaveer Berwa) submits that appellant No. 01 has been wrongly convicted by the trial Court without there being any sufficient and clinching evidence available on record. He also submits that the appellant No. 01 (Mahaveer Berwa) has already undergone five years and eight months out of seven years of jail sentence imposed upon him by the trial Court and appeal is likely to take some more time to be finalized. He lastly submits that the other co-accused persons of the case have already been granted bail, hence, it is prayed that his application may be allowed.

On the other hand, learned counsel for the State has opposed the bail application and submits that there is sufficient evidence available on record against the appellant No. 01. This case is not identical to the appellant Nos. 02 and 03, therefore, appellant No. 01 (Mahaveer Berwa) should not be enlarged on bail.

Heard both the parties.

Perused the statements of the witnesses and other materials available on record and further considering that the appellant No. 01 (Mahaveer Berwa) has already undergone five years and eight months out of seven years of jail sentence imposed upon him by the trial Court, without further commenting on other merits of the case, I am of this opinion that it will be proper to release the appellant No. 01 (Mahaveer Berwa) on bail during the pendency of this appeal.

On execution of substantive jail sentences imposed upon appellant No. 01 (Mahaveer Berwa) shall remain suspended during the pendency of this appeal and he shall be released on bail on executing a personal bond for a sum of Rs. 2,00,000/- with two local sureties of Rs. 1,00,000/- each to the satisfaction of the trial Court for his appearance before the Registry of this Court on 15.06.2022. He shall thereafter appear before the trial Court on a date to be given by the Registry of this Court and shall continue to appear there on all such subsequent dates as are given to him by the said Court, till the disposal of this appeal.

List this case for final hearing in its due course.

Sd/-

(Arvind Singh Chandel) Judge

Vasant