Crl. Revn. No. 912 of 2011 (O&M) -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH Crl. Revn. No. 912 of 2011 (O&M) Date of decision:- 11.05.2011 Shamsher Singh ...Petitioner Versus State of Punjab ...Respondent CORAM: HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE RITU BAHRI Present:- Mr. R.P. Singh, Advocate for the petitioner Mr. Munish Kumar, A.A.G, Punjab RITU BAHRI J.(Oral) The present revision petition has been filed against the judgment dated 10.03.2011, passed by ld. Additional Sessions Judge (Adhoc) Fast Track Court, Gurdaspur, dismissing the appeal of the petitioner against the order and judgment dated 15.07.2006 passed by ld Judicial Magsitrate Ist Class, Gurdaspur, convicting the petitioner to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of three year under Section 409 IPC and to pay a fine of Rs.5000/- and in default of payment of fine shall further undergo imprisonment for a period of six months. The allegations against petitioner Shamsher Singh, Panch is that the welfare department had sanctioned the grant of Rs.50,000/- for the construction of Dharamshala in village Purowal Arian for schedule caste. But when T.W.O visited the spot and found that no progress has taken place, letter was thereafter sent to SHO, Police Station, Sadar, Gurdaspur to take action against the petitioner as he has mis-appropriated the amount of Rs.20,000/- for his personal use and he failed to complete the Dharamshala. Mr. R.P. Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner has argued that on the site, the construction has been raised and has been duly surveyed by Crl. Revn. No. 912 of 2011 (O&M) -2- Junior Engineer and Senior Surveyor and there was no complaint ever from any quarter. The conviction is liable to be upheld as the prosecution evidence has gone unrebutted and the accused-petitioner has chosen not to cross-examine the complainant Shiv Dayal, PW3 and Mohan Singh PW4. Accused-petitioner was appointed as cashier for completing the work of Harijan Dharamshala. Ex. PE and Ex.PF are the documents signed by accused Shamsher Singh wherein he has received Rs.30,000/- as cashier for completion of the work of Harijan Dharamshala, which is countersigned by the District Welfare Officer, Gurdaspur. Ex.PC is the document vide which accused Shamsher Singh son of Amarnath was appointed as cashier. The petitioner was not the Panch at the time of registration of F.I.R, as such prior sanction under Section 197 Cr.P.C was not required. However, the judgments of both the Courts below do not suffer from any legal infirmity and are hereby upheld. However, a lenient view can be taken on the quantum of sentence of the petitioner. The petitioner has been facing trial for the last 8 years and had undergone for almost 2 months from the date of decision of learned Additional Sessions Judge, vide order dated 10.03.2011 in custody. The petitioner happens to be the first offence and is the only bread winner in the family and is supporting his family and has got two minor children. In view of the above, a direction is given that the petitioner be released on probation for a period of one year to the satisfaction of CJM/Duty Magistrate, Gurdaspur. In view of the above, the petition stands disposed of. May 11, 2011 ( RITU BAHRI ) G.Arora JUDGE