Tanbir Mian @ Tanvir Ansari vs. The State Of Jharkhand

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NOS. 1157-1158 OF 2023

(arising out of Special Leave to Appeal(Crl.) No(s). 4209-4210/2023)

TANBIR MIAN @ TANVIR ANSARI & ORS. Appellant(s)

VERSUS

THE STATE OF JHARKHAND Respondent(s)

O R D E R

Leave granted.

Signature Not Verified

The appellants were convicted under Section 25,26 and 35 of the Arms Act, 1959. They were sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year along with other sentences including fine. The conviction and sentence were upheld by the appellate court and the High Court respectively.

It is argued that the sanction in terms of Section 39 was defective in this case. Learned counsel pointed out that only one fire arm (country-made pistol) was allegedly recovered from one of the accused and according to the police a bullet was recovered from another accused; the third accused is alleged to have been a copassenger on the motor cycle. It is also pointed out that the entire prosecution version seems implausible since the motor cycle was neither recovered nor any particulars in relation to it were disclosed.

After notice was issued, learned counsel for the State appeared. Having regard to the overall circumstances, this Court is of the opinion that without getting into the merits of the Digitally signed by Harshita Uppal Date: 2023.04.18 15:11:00 IST Reason:

1

contention regarding validity of the sanction, this is an appropriate case for altering the sentence. The record shows that the appellants have already undergone eight months of sentence.

In the circumstances, the sentence imposed by the trial court and concurrently upheld thereafter, is hereby modified; in stead of one year's rigorous imprisonment and the other sentences, the appellants are sentenced to the period already undergone. They shall be accordingly released forthwith.

The criminal appeals are allowed.

Pending applications, if any, are disposed of.

...................J. (S. RAVINDRA BHAT)

....................J. (DIPANKAR DATTA)

NEW DELHI; APRIL 17, 2023

S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No(s). 4209- 4210/2023

(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 26-02-2021 in CRR No. 878/2013 26-02-2021 in CRR No. 1051/2013 passed by the High Court Of Jharkhand At Ranchi)

TANBIR MIAN @ TANVIR ANSARI & ORS. Petitioner(s)

VERSUS

THE STATE OF JHARKHAND Respondent(s)

IA No. 35299/2023 - EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T. IA No. 44526/2023 - PERMISSION TO FILE ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS/FACTS/ANNEXURES)

Date : 17-04-2023 These matters were called on for hearing today.

CORAM :

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S. RAVINDRA BHAT HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DIPANKAR DATTA

For Petitioner(s) Mr. Anirban Bhattacharya, AOR Mr. Rajeev Chowdhary, Adv.

For Respondent(s) Mr. Kumar Anurag Singh, Adv. Ms. Meenakshi Chatterjee, Adv. Mr. Jayant Mohan, AOR

UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following O R D E R

Leave granted.

The criminal appeals are allowed and the appellants are released forthwith in terms of the signed order.

Pending applications, if any, are disposed of.

(HARSHITA UPPAL) (MATHEW ABRAHAM) SENIOR PERSONAL ASSISTANT COURT MASTER (NSH)

(Signed order is placed on the file)