MANIKANDAN Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Criminal Appeal arises out of the judgment of conviction and sentence rendered in Spl.S.C.No.6 of 2020, dtd. 29/2/2024, by the learned Sessions Judge, Special Court for Exclusive Trial of Cases registered under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, Villupuram.

(2.) The appellants/accused in Spl.S.C.No.6 of 2020 are convicted by the trial Court by judgment dtd. 29/2/2024, as under:- The appellants were initially charged for the offences under Sec. 304(ii) I.P.C., Sec. 135(1)(a) of the Electricity Act, 2003 and Sec. 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (PoA) Amendment Act, 2015. On conclusion of trial, the trial Court found the appellants not guilty and acquitted them under Sec. 235(1) Cr.P.C. for the offence under Sec. 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (PoA) Amendment Act, 2015 and convicted them for the offences under Sec. 304(ii) I.P.C. and Sec. 135(1)(a) of the Electricity Act, 2003 and sentenced them as follows:-

(3.) The charge stems from an incident on 26/4/2018, when the appellants unlawfully installed an electric fence around their agricultural land using Vathanarayanan tree sticks to prevent wild pigs from damaging their paddy field. The electricity was illegally sourced by tampering with Uthanda Raman's electric connection. The fence was connected to a high- voltage power supply.