SUNDARARAMIREDDY Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Whether the Appellate Court, while exercising its powers under Section 389 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, can suspend the execution of sentence as well as the conviction, pending an appeal preferred by a convicted person, is precisely the question that arises for our consideration in this batch of petitions.

(2.) The Special Court under A.C.B. & S.P.E. Cases at Nelloreconvicted several public servants belonging to the Irrigation Department and also some contractors, for various offences of misconduct. The accused preferred appeals and also sought for suspension of the operation of the judgment, which includes the conviction as well as the sentence imposed on them by the trial Court. It may be mentioned here that the public servants involved in those cases were suspended from service, and as per the interim directions of this Court in the Writ Petitions filed by them, they were reinstated into service and as such they have been continued in servi.e.

(3.) The learned Single Judge, who admitted the Criminal Appealsfiled by them, gave a direction in the Crl. M. Ps. filed by them, suspending the operation of the judgment and also the sentence, pending disposal of the Criminal Appeals. Thereafter, the learned Standing Counsel for A.C.B. filed a letter, requesting the matters to be posted for 'being mentioned', Accordingly, they came up before our learned brother Bh askar Rao, J. The learned Standing Counsel for the A.C.B. and S.P.E. cases contended before the learned Single Judge that under Sec 389(1) Cr.P.C, the High Court, as an Appellate Court, has power only to suspend execution of the sentence, and not the conviction, muchless, the 'judgment' as a whole. On the other hand, on behalf of the accused-appellants, it was contended before the learned Single Judge that, u/s 389(1) Cr.P C, this Court, as an Appellate Court, has got ample power to suspend the operation of the judgment and that even otherwise also, this Court can invoke power u/s 482 Cr.P.C. and suspend the operation of the judgment.