VAITHI ALIAS VAITHIANATHAN Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Criminal Appeals No. 1870-1871 of 2010 disposed of by an order of this Court dated 27th September, 2010 arose out of an order passed by the Trial Court in CC No. 259 and 260 of 2002 convicting the Appellant of an offence of theft of electricity and sentencing him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one month and a fine of Rs. 500/-. In default of payment of the fine, the Appellant was directed to undergo simple imprisonment for a further period of 15 days in both the cases. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

(2.) At the hearing of the appeals, it was argued on behalf of the Appellant that the Appellant had already undergone eight months of imprisonment and yet continued to be in jail even when the sentence awarded to him was only for a period of one month. It was in that backdrop that this Court directed an enquiry into the matter by the High Court and called for a report on the subject.

(3.) From the report received pursuant to the above direction, it appears that the Appellant had undergone a sentence of 13 days only and that the allegation that he had been in jail for eight months was factually incorrect. The report sets out the dates on which the Appellant was taken into custody and released on bail.