‘ Case lacking witnesses can’t be rejected’

◗ In October 2017, a trial court gave him six months imprisonment

New Delhi, Jan .1: A case of the prosecution cannot be discarded if people are not willing to become witnesses, a Delhi court has said while refusing to set aside the jail term awarded to a man for snatching a woman’s mobile phone.

Additional sessions judge S. K. Sharma, while dismissing the appeal of the convict against a six month jail term given to him for the offence under section 379 ( theft) of the IPC, said the trial court had already taken a lenient view regarding the quantum of sentence.

“In my view, the trial court has also taken lenient view against the appellant regarding the quantum of sentence and therefore, the order on sentence doesn’t require any interference by this court and the same is upheld,” he said.

Rejecting the contention that convict’s the rickshaw puller in whose vehicle the victim was going home when the incident took place, was not examined during the trial, the court said it was not fatal to the prosecution case. “So far as joining the rickshaw puller in the probe and examining him in the court is concerned, it is not fatal to the prosecution case for the reason that independent witnesses are not agreeing to become witness. This cannot be a ground to discard the prosecution case,” it said.

According to the prosecution, the woman had boarded a rickshaw at New Ashok Nagar Metro station on February 14, 2013 to go home when convict Ravi Kumar suddenly snatched her mobile phone from her hand.

In October 2017, a trial court had held him guilty and sentenced him to six months imprisonment.

In his appeal, he had contended that the woman’s testimony was unreliable and no independent witness was examined during trial.