Gauhati High Court
Jagadish Pasowan vs The State Of Assam And Anr on 10 February, 2023
Page No.# 1/3
GAHC010244922022
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
I.A.(Crl.)/775/2022
JAGADISH PASOWAN
S/O LT. ANIP PASOWAN
R/O RAILWAY COLONY BALMIKI LINE
P.S.- TINSUKIA
DIST.- TINSUKIA
ASSAM- 786125.
VERSUS
THE STATE OF ASSAM AND ANR.
REP. BY P.P.
ASSAM.
2:ANITA DAS
W/O BINOD DAS
R/O RAJA ALI ROAD
P.S.- TINSUKIA
DIST.- TINSUKIA
ASSAM
PIN- 786125.
------------
Advocate for : MR. B D KONWAR SR. ADV.
Advocate for : PP
ASSAM appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND ANR.
Page No.# 2/3
BEFORE
HONOURABLE MRS. JUSTICE SUSMITA PHUKAN KHAUND
ORDER
Date : --10.02.2023
1. Heard Mr. B.D. Konwar, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Ms. D. Brahma, learned
counsel for the applicant Jagadish Pasowan who has filed an application under Section 389(1)
of the Cr.PC with prayer for bail and suspension of sentence. The applicant Jagadish Pasowan
was convicted in connection with the POSCO Case No. 10 of 2019 and sentenced to undergo
Rigorous Imprisonment for 5 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 20,000/- with default clause.
2. Heard Mr. P.S. Laskar, learned Addl. PP for the respondent State.
3. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the ingredients of the Section 10 of the
POSCO Act was misconstrued by the Trial Court and the petitioner was erroneously convicted
and sentenced under Section 10 of the POSCO Act. It is submitted that the applicant is not
guilty of the offence he has been charged with. There is not a scintilla of evidence that the
appellant touched the victim in an inappropriate way and committed an offence of sexual
assault which is defined under Section 7 of the POSCO Act and aggravated sexual assault as
defined under Section 9 of the POSCO Act. The learned counsel for the petitioner led us
through the evidence of the witnesses stating that the evidence of PW3 does not incriminate
the applicant. The PW3 is the victim who was 4 years old at the time of the incident. The
evidence of the victim's mother also does not incriminate the applicant. The Medical Officer,
PW-1 could not detect any injuries on the private parts of the victim 'X'.
4. The learned Addl. P.P. has raised serious objection stating that the evidence clearly
depicts that both the applicant and the victim were found naked and thereafter there was a
commotion and the applicant was charged with the offence of sexually assaulting a minor
victim who was unable to describe the incident properly as she was very young, to perceive
the depravity of the act.
5. I have given my anxious consideration to the submissions at the Bar. I have perused
Page No.# 3/3
the judgment of the Trial Court and I have also scrutinised the evidence of the witnesses. At
this juncture I would not like to get into the merits of the case as the connected appeal is yet
to be heard. I have scrutinised the entire LCR and I have given my anxious consideration to
the submissions at the Bar. It is true that the applicant is a 62 year old person and he is
suffering immensely due to his incarceration. It is also true that the applicant has been
languishing in the jail since 13.04.2019 upto 23.04.2019 and thereafter he was on bail and
again the appellant was forwarded to custody on 14.10.2022 and since then he has been
languishing in the jail.
6. The learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that there is every possibility that
the applicant will be acquitted. The applicant has already been behind bars for one year.
7. At this stage without commenting on the merits of the appeal and considering the role
of the applicant as alleged the application is rejected. The connected appeal will be taken up
for early hearing as the applicant is behind bars.
JUDGE
Comparing Assistant
