THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA CRIMINAL REVISION CASE No.2102 of 2004 JUDGMENT: This Criminal Revision Case is directed against the judgment dated 20.12.2004 made in Crl.A.No.23 of 2001 by the I Additional District & Sessions Judge, Eluru, West Godavari, confirming the judgment of the II Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, Kovvur, dated 6.1.2001 in C.C.No.761 of 1996. The case of the prosecution is as follows: P.Ws.1 to 4 boarded the lorry bearing No.AP 20 T 459 at Jangareddigudem to go to Nidadavolu along with the deceased- Prabhakara Rao, who was also a lecturer of S.D.S. Junior College, Jangareddigudem for attending to Intermediate Spot Valuation at Nidadavolu, while the other deceased K. Venkatareddy was the cleaner of the said lorry. The accused was the driver the said lorry. While the said lorry was proceeding on Koyyalagudem-Gopalapuram road and after it left Janardanapuram village center, due to the rash and negligent driving of the accused, at about 7.45 a.m., on 29.4.1996, the said lorry went to the extreme left side of the road and dashed against the banyan tree, as a result of which, Prabhakar Rao and Venkata Redy and P.Ws.1 to 4 sustained injuries. The cleaner- Venkata Redy died on the spot. The said Prabhakar Rao died while he was being shifted to Primary Health Centre at Koyyalagudem. P.Ws.1 to 4, who were injured, were treated for their injuries. On the statement given by P.W.1, a case in crime No.38 of 1996 was registered against the petitioner-accused for the offences punishable under Sections 337, 338 and 304-A IPC. After completion of the investigation, charge sheet was filed and the same was taken cognizance as C.C.No.761 of 1996. On appreciation of both oral and documentary evidence, the trial Court found the petitioner-accused guilty of the offences under Section 304-A IPC and 337 IPC and accordingly sentenced him to undergo imprisonment for six months and to pay a fine of Rs.5,000/- in default to suffer simple imprisonment for three months for the offence under Section 304-A IPC and no separate sentence was awarded for the offence under Section 337 IPC as the accused was already sentenced to higher offence viz., 304-A IPC. Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner-accused preferred an appeal in Crl.A.No.23 of 2001 before the I Additional District & Sessions Judge, West Godavari, Eluru. The learned Additional Sessions Judge confirmed the conviction and the sentence imposed by the Court below. Questioning the said judgment, the petitioner filed the present revision. Learned Counsel for the petitioner-accused fairly conceded that this is not a fit case for interference, but he requested to take a lenient view insofar as the sentence of imprisonment is concerned, having regard to the fact that the petitioner was in jail for a period of four days. In the facts and circumstances of the case and in view of the nature of the offence committed by the petitioner-accused, I feel that the judgments of the Courts below do not warrant any interference. But however, having regard to the fact that the petitioner has been wandering around the Courts since 1996 and in view of the fact that the petitioner-accused was in jail for a period of four days, this Court is of the view that this is a fit case where a lenient view can be taken. Accordingly, the sentence imposed by the Courts below against the petitioner-accused for the offence under Section 304-A IPC is reduced to the period already undergone. In the result, the sentence of imprisonment for a period of six months for the offence under section 304-A IPC imposed by the Courts below on the petitioner-accused is reduced to the period already undergone, while maintaining the sentence of fine. With the above modification, the Criminal Revision Case is dismissed. _______________________ GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA, J 10th March, 2011 Nn THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE GOPALA KRISHNA TAMADA CRIMINAL REVISION CASE No.2102 of 2004 10.3.2011