MADHUPKUMAR J PREM Vs. AMRUT NATHU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Can any Court deny justice to the complainant on the ground that the case has become old particularly when the complainant on his part has contributed nothing to occasion the delay in trial ? This is a question in focus round which the merits of the acquittal appeal are appreciated hereunder.

(2.) This acquittal appeal arises out of the judgment and order of acquittal dated 17/03/1981 rendered in Criminal Case No. 723 of 1980 by the learned Metropolitan Magistrate Court No. 10 Ahmedabad wherein the respondent accused Amrut Nathu and three others who came to be tried for the offence punishable under Secs. 323 504 and 114 of I. P. C. came to be acquitted.

(3.) In brief the appellant before this Court is an injured complainant one Mr. Madhupkumar J. Prem at the relevant time a Municipal Cooperator and a practicing Advocate in the lower Courts at Ahmedabad. The respondent-accused herein are the neighbors of the said complainant. The alleged incident in question took place on 22/03/1980 at about 13.45 hrs. On that day the complainant was at his house since some guests were to visit his house on account of the engagement of his younger brother. It is the case of the complainant that an iron cot after it was washed was kept for drying-out under the sun-shine behind his house. At this point of time respondent-accused suddenly got enraged and started giving filthy abuses by alleging that bugs from the cot of the complainant were passing into their cot. In midst of all this the accused No. 1 - Amrut Nathu took up a stone and gave a blow with it on the head of the complainant and the accused No. 3 - Bai Ratan also threw the stone injuring the left hand thumb and finger of the complainant which resulted in the bleeding. This incident was witnessed by his son Harsh and one professor whose name the complainant did not know. Thereafter the complainant summoned a mobile van in which he was carried to Smt. Shardaben Chimanlal Lalbhai General Hospital Saraspur Ahmedabad and was admitted as an indoor patient and was discharged from the hospital on 23/03/1980 as he had to attend the engagement function. On the basis of these facts the N. C. complaint was filed before Gomptipur Police Station on the very day of the incident. Since the complaint filed was a complaint for an offence under Sec. 323 being N. C. complaint the complainant thought it proper to file another complaint before the trial Court on 25/03/1980 as the proceeding two days viz. 23rd and 24/03/1980 were holidays being Sunday and Ramnavmi respectively. The trial Court after registering the said complaint as Criminal Case No. 723 of 1980 ordered the issuance of summons against the respondent-accused for offences punishable under Secs. 323 504 506 and 34 I. P. C. by an order dated 25/03/1980 Thereafter it appears that for one reason or the other the matter was lying in a cold storage for about an year i.e. about 27 times the matter did appear on the board at the regular interval but could not be proceeded with for one reason or another. On 17/03/1981 the matter was called out and on behalf of the complainant an application for adjournment was submitted which came to be rejected by the trial Court holding - to quote the same - that the complaint is old one having been filed in March 1980 and therefore the application was rejected. While acquitting the accused persons the trial Court is its judgment further observed that despite the reasonable time given no evidence has been produced. The case was filed in March 1980 aid that plea of the same came to be recorded on 4/10/1980 by prolonging the case for indefinite period it will not serve the interest of justice. Hence in absence of the evidence the accused are acquitted.