Ravi Kumar Verma v. State of NCT Delhi

1. This is an application under Section 389 Cr.P.C. read with Section 482 Cr.P.C. for suspension of sentence during the pendency of the appeal moved on behalf of the appellant/applicant.

2. It has been submitted that the appellant was taken into custody since the date of his arrest i.e. 09.08.2019 till 04.01.2021 and thereafter he was enlarged on bail and he had faced trial and subsequently he was again taken into custody on 22.12.2021 at the time of pronouncement of judgment and since then he is in custody.

3. It has been submitted that the appellant is the only member to support the livelihood of his wife and two years old child alongwith old age parents and they have no proper source of income for survival, so it has been prayed 2022:DHC:4259 that the sentence passed by the learned Trial Court in Sessions Case NO. 600/2019, in FIR No. 243/2019 u/s 376 IPC and Section 6 of POCSO Act, registered at PS Khyala, Delhi whereby the appellant/applicant was awarded sentence to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment for 20 years and fine of Rs.10,000/- may please be suspended.

4. It is noted here that this application is supported by an affidavit of wife of the appellant, who also happens to be the prosecutrix in this case. An application for early hearing was also filed on 17.05.2022, in which it is mentioned that the Parokar, who is the wife of the appellant was pregnant at that time and the delivery of second child was expected around 15.06.2022. She is stated to be living with her in-laws, i.e., parents of the present applicant alongwith her two years old son and there was no male member to support the family. It has been further submitted that the prosecutrix/victim was living happily with the applicant prior to his conviction and she still wants to reside with the applicant as his wife, so, the suspension of sentence has been prayed.

5. Notice has been issued. Nominal roll has been summoned from the jail, which shows that as on 11.07.2022 the petitioner has undergone actual punishment of 2 years and 6 days and he has earned remission of 1 month and 6 days, so the remaining unexpired portion of sentence is 17 years 10 months and 18 days.

6. I have heard arguments on behalf of the applicant as well as on behalf of the State. It is to be noted here that the victim was aged about 15 years when she lodged complaint at PS Khyala on 08.08.2019 against the applicant in presence of her mother. She had alleged that appellant/applicant had made physical relations with her for the last two years. On the day when she lodged the complaint, she was 6-7 months pregnant. The appellant/applicant assured her of marriage, however he did not marry her. Her elder sister came to know about her pregnancy and she informed the parents and thereafter, she was brought to police station by them in order to lodge the complaint. The MLC dated 08.09.2019 shows that victim was 30 weeks pregnant. The victim gave birth to a child on 09.09.2019. At the time of sentence on 22.12.2021, the victim had appeared before Court and she had stated that she was happily married to the convict and she had one child aged about two years with him and she wanted to live happily with the convict, however, keeping in view the facts and circumstances of the case, especially, the age of the victim at the time of the incident, the learned trial Court was pleased to pass the above-mentioned sentence against the present appellant/applicant.

7. The learned counsel for the petitioner has relied upon the judgment of the co-ordinate Bench of this Court in Jaspal Singh @ Rinku v. State of NCT Delhi in Crl.A.431/2021 decided on 08.09.2021 in which under similar circumstances, a co-ordinate Bench of this Court was pleased to suspend the sentence awarded to the appellant. He has also relied upon the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Crl.A. No. 796/2022 titled as Dhandapani v. State, decided on 09.05.2022, in which under similar circumstances the Hon’ble Supreme Court was pleased to set aside the conviction and sentence of the appellant by observing as under:- “In the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, we are of the considered view that the conviction and sentence of the appellant who is maternal uncle of the prosecutrix deserves to be set aside in view of the subsequent events that have been brought to the notice of this Court. This Court cannot shut its eyes to the ground reality and disturb the happy family life of the appellant and the prosecutrix. We have been informed about the custom in Tamilnadu of the marriage of a girl with the maternal uncle.”

8. The reliance has also been placed on the order of the Supreme Court in I.A.No. 152058/2021 in Crl.A.No. 1380/2021 titled G. Rajasekar v. State, decided on 28.03.2022 in which the Hon’ble Supreme Court was pleased to suspend the execution of remaining part of the sentence awarded to the appellant under the similar circumstances during the pendency of the appeal.

9. It is an admitted fact that the prosecutrix/victim is the married wife of the present appellant/applicant. She is unable to take care of her two children who were fathered by the present appellant/applicant. She is residing with her in-laws, who are parents of the presents appellant/applicant. As obscured in the judgment of the learned Trial Court, the present appellant/applicant had made physical relations with prosecutrix/victim on the promise of marriage and since he did not marry her, she lodged the FIR but later on he married her. Although the victim was minor at the time of offence but later on even after turning major, she still wants to live with the present appellant/applicant as his wife and they have been already blessed with two children.

10. In view of the judgment cited above and in view of the fact that the present appeal will take a long time for being heard, as it was filed only last year and there is heavy pendency in this Court and further keeping in view the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, I am inclined to suspend the sentence awarded to the present appellant/applicant and he be released on execution of personal bond of Rs. 25,000/- with surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent, subject to the following conditions:-

(i) The appellant shall provide a contact number and ensure that he is reachable on it at all times;

(ii) the appellant shall, prior to changing his residential address, inform the SHO of the concerned police station;

(iii) the appellant shall not leave this country without permission of the

(iv) the appellant shall ensure that he is available for all hearing before the

11. The application is disposed of on the above terms. CRL.A. 422/2021