(1.) This revision petition is directed against the judgment and order dated 24.9.1983 of the learned Additional Sessions Judge in Criminal Appeal No. 40 of 1982 whereby the learned Additional Sessions Judge has affirmed the conviction of the petitioner while reducing the sentence to two years and pay a fine ofRs.l,000.00.
(2.) When the matter was called up, none appeared for the petitioner. Since the matter is an old one and has been pending in this Court since 1983, no useful purpose would beserved in adjourning the same. I, therefore, appoint Mr. Naveen Thakur as Amicus Curiae to assist the Court.
(3.) The facts leading to this case are that the complainant, Khem Chand, who was employed in the DSIDC was posted as a clerk on the check post at Deoli on the night of 19.10.1979. It is the case of the prosecution that the petitioner entered the room where Khem Chand was on duty and demanded money from him by threatening him with a knife. The petitioner is accused of snatching a sum of Rs. 378.00 purportedly lying in the drawer of the table at which Khem Chand was working. The accused is also alleged to have snatched a gold chain worn by Khem Chand and thereafter managed to escape in the darkness alongwith others. The prosecution, in order to prove its case, examined seven witnesses and the accused in defence examined two witnesses primarily to establish that there was previous enmity between Public Witness I, Khem Chand and the accused. Public Witness I is the complainant who, in support of his case, has narrated the entire incident as recorded in the complaint. PW 6, who was the security guard at the relevant time, has been introduced in order to corroborate the testimony of Public Witness I while Public Witness 4 and Public Witness 5 to the effect that Public Witness I was on duty at the relevant time at the check post.