STEPHEN Vs. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner has sent up this petition from jail where he is undergoing a sentence of imprisonment for a period of seven years passed by the Sessions Court, Quilon, in S.C. 98/82 as per judgment dated 26-11-1983. He was involved in another case, the FIR of which was registered on 19-12-1985 as Crime No. 421/85 of the Quilon East Police Station. On completion of the investigation, the case was charge sheeted and the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Quilon, after trial (as C.C. 104/87), convicted him for the offences under S.447 and 324 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for three months for the first count and one year for the other count.

(2.) Petitioner now prays that set off may be allowed, as per S.428 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for the period he was under detention during the investigation and trial in C.C. 104/87.

(3.) He claims the benefit of set off envisaged in S.428 of the Cr. P.C. in the light of the decision of this Court in Monian Pillai v. State ( 1986 KLT 1370 ). If the interpretation of S.428 given in the said decision can be followed, no doubt, petitioner is entitled to the set off prayed for by him. But the difficulty in applying the principle in Monian Pillai's case is that when the said decision was rendered, the attention of the court was not drawn to the earlier Supreme Court decision in Raghbir Singh v. State of Haryana ( AIR 1984 SC 1796 ). In the said decision, the Supreme Court held as follows: