GAYADEEN Vs. STATE OF M.P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER Gayadeen stands convicted under section 380 of the IPC, with sentences of rigorous imprisonment for 1 year and fine of Rs. 500/ -.

(2.) JUDICIAL Magistrate First Class, Chhatarpur, on a close scrutiny of the evidence, led by the prosecution, at the trial, found petitioner Gayadeen guilty of commission of theft of the ornaments, belonging to complainant Dayaram, in the intervening night of 1st and 2nd Dec. 1982 and, therefore, convicted him, vide judgment dated 31.3.86, passed in Criminal Case No. 267/84, u/s 380 of the IPC, and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for 3 years and fine of Rs. 500/ -.

(3.) SHRI S.K. Tiwari, the learned counsel for the petitioner, contended that the Courts below have erred in recording the petitioner's conviction, u/s 380 of the IPC, though the prosecution evidence suffers from serious infirmities. The learned counsel, in the alternative, submits that the jail sentence of 1 year rigorous imprisonment, awarded by the appellate Court, may be restricted to the period already undergone by the petitioner, as a period of about 16 years has already elapsed since the commission of theft, in the year 1982, and the petitioner has already remained in jail for about 15 days.