DAULAT SINGH Vs. STATE OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE appellant Shri Daulat Singh who is a young boy of 20 years has been convicted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Kinnaur at Kalpa under Sections 380/457 read with Section 75 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 5 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000/- on each count. The Chief Judicial Magistrate has further directed that in default of payment of fine the appellant shall undergo further rigorous imprisonment for 6 months in each case and that both the sentences shall run consecutively. In other words the substantive sentence imposed on the appellant is rigorous imprisonment for 10 years with further rigrous imprisonment of 1 year in case of default of payment of fine.

(2.) THE appellant admitted the prosecution case and pleaded guilty to the charges under Sections 380/457 as well as to the charge under Section 75 I. P. C. since the conviction of the appellant was recorded on his own plea of guilt, the only question in this case is as to the propriety of the sentence imposed upon him by the learned Chief Judicial Magistrate and in fact this appeal was admitted on this limited point.

(3.) THAT record shows that the appellant was convicted for the first time on 9-4-1979 for an offence under Section 380, I. P. C, the value of the subject matter of theft in that case being only Rs. 100/ -. He was then released under Section 4 (1) of the Probation of Offenders Act. Second time he was convicted on 19-12-1979 for the offences under Sections 380/454 I. P. C. and released after admonition under Section 3 of the Probation of Offenders Act. This time again the value of the stolen property was only Rs, 111. 30 parse. Each time he was convicted on his own confession, Both the previous offences for which the appellant was convicted were thus of a petty nature.