Criminal Revision No.1749 of 2005 -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Criminal Revision No.1749 of 2005 Date of Decision: October 05, 2010 Satveer Singh .......Petitioner Versus U.T.Chandigarh .......Respondent CORAM:- HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JITENDRA CHAUHAN Present: Mr.Vikas Kuthiala, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr.Rajiv Sharma, Advocate for U.T.Chandigarh. <><><> JITENDRA CHAUHAN, J. 1. The petitioner was tried by the Judicial Magistrate Ist Class, Chandigarh (hereinafter referred as “Trial Court”), for the commission of offence under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code on the allegations that on 20.8.1999, he (the petitioner), after consuming liquor, quarrelled with Sarita, sister of complainant Pushpinder Kumar and further with bad intention tried to outrage her modesty. 2. On conclusion of trial, the learned trial Court had convicted the petitioner under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of one year and to pay a fine of Criminal Revision No.1749 of 2005 -2- Rs.500/-, and in default of payment of fine, to undergo further rigorous imprisonment for a period of 30 days. 3. On appeal, the learned Appellate Court upheld the judgment of the trial Court and dismissed the appeal. Hence, the present revision petition. 4. At the time of hearing of the revision petition, the petitioner was ordered to be released on bail, vide order dated 26.9.2005, and the revision petition was admitted on 23.2.2006. 5. Learned counsel for the petitioner does not dispute the finding of the learned Courts below on merits and confines his submission to the question of quantum of sentence mainly on the ground that the present petitioner has already suffered a protracted trial for more than 11 years. The petitioner is stated to have already undergone sentence for about one month. 6. Learned counsel for the State submitted that since offence is proved, so no leniency should be shown. 7. Keeping in view the fact that the petitioner has suffered the agony of protracted trial for more than 11 years and has left himself at the mercy of the Court, his conviction under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code stands maintained, but the sentence of imprisonment awarded to him is reduced to the period already undergone. However, the sentence of fine is enhanced to Rs.5,000/- which shall be deposited by the petitioner with the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Chandigarh, within three months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order, and the same shall go to the State as litigation expenses. In case of non-payment of amount of enhanced fine, the present revision petition shall be deemed to have been dismissed. Criminal Revision No.1749 of 2005 -3- 8. With the above modification/direction in the order of sentence of learned trial Court, the present criminal revision petition stands disposed of. 9. Since the main appeal is decided, misc. application(s) pending, if any, shall stand disposed of accordingly. ( JITENDRA CHAUHAN ) October 05, 2010 JUDGE SRM Note: Whether to be referred to reporter ? Yes/No