Criminal Appeal No. 43-SB of 1998 -1- *** IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Appeal No. 43-SB of 1998 Date of decision : 10.11.2008 State of Haryana .....Appellant Versus Ajay Kumar ...Respondent CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S. D. ANAND Present: Mr. Amit Kaushik, Assistant Advocate General, Haryana. Ms. Monika Jalota, Advocate as Amicus Curiae for respondent. **** S. D. ANAND, J. The respondent/accused was convicted by the learned Trial Magistrate for an offence under Section 61/1/14 of the Excise Act and was sentenced to undergo imprisonment for a period of seven months and twenty six days which he had otherwise undergone by that time. That indictment followed a confessional plea entered by the respondent/accused at the time of charge. The State has filed the present plea for enhancement of sentence. The precise averment in the plea is that the trial Court ought to have imposed the minimum fine of Rs.5000/- upon the respondent in terms of the mandatory provisions of the Punjab Excise Act (Amended by Haryana 22 of 1995). The prosecution plea at the trial was that the respondent/accused was found carrying 20 pouches of illicit liquor on 29.1.1997 at about 6.00 P.M.. when he was apprehended by the police he Criminal Appeal No. 43-SB of 1998 -2- *** did not carry any permit for the possession thereof. Respondent/accused was convicted, on a plea of guilt in the year 1997, whereas presently the appeal is being heard in the year 2008. At the time of conviction respondent/accused was aged 20 years. He must presently be in mid thirties. He must have married and raised a family in the meantime. It would not be in the interests of justice to require him to face an enhanced sentence even in the matter of payment of fine after such a long delay. The law must suffer even an infraction on point of law because of the delay in adjudicating upon the plea for enhancement for sentence because no part of the delay is attributed to the respondent/accused. It is time to pounder over the adoption of a methodology to cut the delay in disposing of atleast cases of the indicated category. Dismissed. November 10, 2008 (S. D. ANAND) Pka JUDGE