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Mohd. Hashim v. State of UP and Ors.

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 1218 of 2016)Decided 28 Nov 2016
Criminal Appeal No. 1218 of 2016
Justice Dipak Misra · Justice Amitava Roy

Background

This order sends the case back; it does not decide the dispute. The respondents were convicted under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code and related provisions. On appeal, the Sessions Judge gave them the benefit of Section 4 of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 without hearing arguments on merits, and the High Court dismissed the informant's revision against that order.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final decision on the dispute. After discussing the law on probation at length, the Court found that the appellate court had exercised its jurisdiction in a perfunctory manner. It allowed the informant's appeal, set aside the orders of the High Court and the appellate court, and sent the matter back to the appellate court for disposal in accordance with law. The parties were left free to raise all points on merits afresh, including the claim to probation.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet on whether the respondents will keep the benefit of probation. An appellate court cannot grant probation in a perfunctory manner without hearing the case on merits.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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