Man jailed for 3 years fails to get court relief

Refusing to set aside the three- year jail term awarded to a man for illegally possessing a pistol, a city court said misplaced sympathy for the accused is harmful for the criminal justice system.

Special Judge Rakesh Kumar upheld the sentence awarded to convict Anil Kumar, a south Delhi resident, by a magisterial court in 2016 under the Arms Act.

“The sentence must take into account the gravity of the offence and its nature, otherwise it can seriously undermine the respect of court of law. Misplaced sympathy for the accused is harmful for criminal justice system,” the judge said.

The judge, while rejecting the convict’s appeal against the trial court order, held that he was rightly convicted and the sentence awarded to him was also not excessive. “The appeal is without merit and accordingly, the same is dismissed,” the court said.

As per prosecution, the police received a tip- off that a gang of snatchers was scheduled to arrive at a market near Saket on September 29, 2013. A raiding team was formed and they nabbed two persons, including Kumar, and recovered a countrymade pistol from him, it said. He was held under Section 25 of Arms Act. The court framed charges against him in 2014.

In its August 2016 judgment, the magisterial court convicted him and sentenced him to three years imprisonment and imposed a fine of 25,000. Challenging this order, the convict contended that the weapon recovered from him was planted by the police to falsely implicate him. He claimed that there was no independent prosecution witness in the trial.

However, the court rejected the contention saying non- examination of witnesses was not fatal to the case and testimonies of police officials.