HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA CRIMINAL REVISION CASE No. 86 of 2001 DATE:08.07.2010 Between: Annam Ramakrishna … Petitioner/A.2 And State represented by Public Prosecutor, High Court of A.P., Hyderabad. … Respondent HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA CRIMINAL REVISION CASE No.86 of 2001 JUDGMENT: The petitioner herein-A.2 along with another was tried in C.C.No.2111 of 1997 by the learned Special Judicial Magistrate of First Class (Prohibition & Excise), Guntur, for the offence punishable under Section 8(b) of the A.P. Prohibition Act (for short “the Act”). During the course of trial, on behalf of prosecution, P.Ws.1 to 3 were examined and Exs.P.1 to P.10 and M.Os.1 and 2 were marked. But, no oral or documentary evidence was adduced on behalf of defence. The learned Magistrate, having been satisfied with the evidence on record, came to the conclusion that the accused are guilty of the offence punishable under Section 8(b) of the Act, and accordingly, convicted and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year each and to pay a fine of Rs.20,000/- each, in default, to suffer simple imprisonment for one year each, by judgment dated 06.07.2000. As against the said judgment, A.1 filed Crl.A.No.362 of 2000 and A.2 filed Crl.A.No.420 of 2000 on the file of the III Addl. Sessions Judge, Guntur, and the learned Sessions Judge dismissed both the appeals by common judgment dated 08.01.2001. Being aggrieved by the same, A.2 preferred this revision. 2. For the purpose of convenience, the parties are referred to hereinafter as they were arrayed before the trial court. 3. The case of the prosecution, in brief, is that on 25.12.1996 the Inspector of Excise, District Task Force, Guntur, along with other excise officials checked the cars coming from Vijayawada to Guntur at bypass road junction near a petrol bunk. During the course of inspection, they found 35 bottles of Jupiter No.1 Whisky of 500 ml and 38 small bottles of Jupiter No.1 Whisky of 60 ml in a car bearing No.A.A.G. 2244. At that time, A.1 was driving the said car and A.2 sat therein. When questioned, A.1 and A.2 confessed that they purchased the Whisky bottles at Yanam and carrying the same to Guntur for sale. The Excise Officials seized the bottles and arrested the accused and registered a case in P.R.No.238/96-97. Later, they sent a sample to the Chemical Examiner for analysis. Having received the report from the Chemical Examiner that the sample contains Indian Liquor, they filed charge sheet against the accused. The case of the accused is of total denial. 4. Heard both sides. 5. Having looked into the evidence and also perused the judgments passed by the courts below, this Court is of the view that the petitioner is guilty of the offence punishable under Section 8(b) of the Act. Therefore, I see no merits in this revision. 6. However, it is a fact that the alleged offence has taken place in the year 1996 and after dismissal of the appeal filed by the petitioner on 08.01.2001, he was taken into custody and thereafter this Court granted bail to him by an order dated 01.02.2001. Thus, he has undergone a sentence of about a month. Further, the said Act is no more in existence. In the light of the above, this Court takes a lenient view and reduces the sentence of imprisonment from one year to that of the period already undergone by the petitioner. 7. With the above modification, the Criminal Revision Case is dismissed. ______________________________ GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA, J 8th July, 2010. CBS HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA CRIMINAL REVISION CASE No.86 of 2001 (Dismissed) 8th July, 2010 CBS