IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.1101 OF 2002

Krishan Lal and Anr.                      ...Appellant(s)

Versus

State (U.T. Chandigarh)                    ...Respondent(s)

With Criminal Appeal No.1102 of 2002

O  R  D  E  R

We have heard learned counsel for the parties.

The  appellants,  along  with  other  accused,  were  

convicted  for  the  offence  under  Sections  

307/148/149/332/333/427/452/437 of the Indian Penal Code [for  

short, `I.P.C'] by the Additional Sessions Judge, Chandigarh.  

The High Court, in Criminal Appeal No.211 of 1988, convicted  

appellants Krishan Lal and Piara Lal under Section 332 I.P.C.  

and sentenced them to undergo rigorous imprisonment for six  

months and appellant Surjan Singh was convicted under Section  

333 I.P.C. and sentenced to undergo rigourous imprisonment  

for two years and to pay fine of Rupees five hundred; in  

default, to undergo rigorous imprisonment for a period of six  

months.  Aggrieved by the order of conviction and sentence,  

the  appellants  are  before  us  in  afore-mentioned  criminal  

appeals.

....2/-

− 2 -

The incident occurred in the year 1981 and nearly,  

three decades have gone by.  At this stage, in our opinion,  

it is not necessary to go into the details of the merits of  

the case pleaded by the learned counsel for the parties to  

the lis.  In this view of the matter, without going into the  

merits of the case, we feel that ends of justice would be met  

if the sentence is reduced to the period of sentence already  

undergone by the accused.

In  this  view  of  the  matter,  keeping  in  view  the  

peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, while disposing  

of  these  appeals,  we  reduce  the  sentence  to  the  period  

already undergone.

The bail bonds of the appellants, who are on bail,  

are discharged.

......................J.               [H.L. DATTU]

......................J.               [K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN]

New Delhi, April 27, 2010.