Sridebajit Dutta Alias Dhantu Vs the State of Assam and Anr. — Gauhati HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

Sridebajit Dutta Alias Dhantu Vs the State of Assam and Anr. — Gauhati HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Prayer of the applicant allowed: sentence imposed in Special (POCSO) Case No.174/2023 suspended till disposal of the connected appeal (linked Case Crl.A./50/2026); applicant released on bail of Rs. 25,000/- with a surety of like amount; the IA thereafter stands disposed of.

Issue for consideration

Whether the sentence imposed on the applicant by the Special Judge, Dhemaji in Special (POCSO) Case No.174/2023 should be suspended and the applicant released on bail under Section 430(2) of the BNSS, 2023, pending disposal of the connected appeal.

Court's answer

A Birth Certificate is a public document and must be proved by the concerned official; the Court adopts its earlier holding in Manirul Islam Versus State of Assam & Anr. (2021) SCC Online Gau 719.

Ratio / Principle

In the present case, the Birth Certificate relating to the victim has not been proved.

Key takeaways

Having gone through the materials on record and considered the submissions of learned counsel of both sides, the prayer of the applicant deserves to be accepted at this stage and is allowed.ratio¶28
The sentence imposed upon the applicant by the learned Special Judge, Dhemaji in Special (POCSO) Case No.174/2023 shall remain suspended till disposal of the connected appeal.ratio¶28
The applicant Debajit Dutta @ Dhantu shall be released on bail of Rs. 25,000 with a surety of like amount, to the satisfaction of the learned Special Judge, Dhemaji.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Gauhati High Court (Parthivjyoti Saikia, J.), order dated 15.05.2026 in I.A.(Crl.)/127/2026, linked to Crl.A./50/2026. Application under Section 430(2) of the BNSS, 2023 by Debajit Dutta alias Dhantu, sentenced by the learned Special Judge, Dhemaji in Special (POCSO) Case No.174/2023, praying suspension of sentence and bail pending appeal. Evidence of the victim's mother placed date of birth in December 2003, while the Birth Certificate showed the victim as 13 years old at the time of occurrence; relying on Manirul Islam Versus State of Assam & Anr., (2021) SCC Online Gau 719 (Birth Certificate is a public document to be proved by the concerned official), the Court found the certificate unproved. Prayer allowed: sentence suspended till disposal of the connected appeal; applicant released on bail of Rs. 25,000/- with a surety of like amount.

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GAHC010015512026

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THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)

I.A.(Crl.)/127/2026 SRIDEBAJIT DUTTA ALIAS DHANTU S/O LATE TANKESWAR DUTTA R/O VILL. BILOTIA MACHKHOWA P.S. DHEMAJI DIST. DHEMAJI ASSAM.

VERSUS

THE STATE OF ASSAM AND ANR REP BY THE PP ASSAM 2:.....XXXXXX...... D/O LATE SAPUN JYOTI SAIKIA R/O 1 NO BORAJAN P.S. DHEMAJI DIST. DHEMAJI ASSAM PIN 787057 -----------Advocate for : MR. A CHAUDHURY Advocate for : PP ASSAM appearing for THE STATE OF ASSAM AND ANR

Linked Case No. : Crl.A./50/2026

SRI DEBAJIT DUTTA ALIAS DHANTU S/O LATE TANKESWAR DUTTA, R/O VILL. BILOTIA, MACHKHOWA, P.S. DHEMAJI, DIST. DHEMAJI, ASSAM.

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VERSUS

THE STATE OF ASSAM AND ANR REP BY THE PP, ASSAM

2:.....XXXXXX...... D/O LATE SAPUN JYOTI SAIKIA R/O 1 NO BORAJAN P.S. DHEMAJI DIST. DHEMAJI ASSAM PIN 78705

Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A CHAUDHURY, MR. D BORA,MR. N MAHAJAN,MR. P K DAS

Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM, MS B CHOUDHURY (AMICUS CURIAE)(R2)

BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PARTHIVJYOTI SAIKIA

ORDER

Date : 15.05.2026

Heard Mr.B K Mahajan, the learned counsel appearing for the applicant. Also heard Mr.K K Das, the learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for the State of Assam as well as Ms. B Choudhury, the learned Amicus Curiae appearing for the respondent No.2.

This application has been filed under Section 430 (2) of the BNSS, 2023 praying for suspension of sentence as well as for allowing the applicant to go on bail.

The mother of the victim, in her evidence, stated that the victim was born in the month of December 2003, whereas in the Birth Certificate given by her shows that the victim was 13 years old at the time of occurrence. The Birth Certificate has not been proved.

This Court in the case of Manirul Islam Versus State of Assam & Anr. reported in ( 2021 ) SCC Online Gau 719 had held that the Birth Certificate is a public document and it has to be proved by the concerned official. Here in this case, the Birth Certificate has not

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been proved.

I have gone through the materials available on record and I have also considered the submissions made by the learned counsel of both sides.

The Court is of the opinion that at this stage, the prayer of the applicant deserves to

be accepted.

After going through the materials available in the record, the prayer of the applicant is allowed. Therefore, the sentence imposed upon the applicant by the learned Special Judge, Dhemaji in Special (POCSO) Case No.174/2023 shall remain suspended till disposal of the connected appeal.

The applicant Debajit Dutta @ Dhantu shall be released on bail of ₹25,000/- with a surety of like amount to the satisfaction of the learned Special Judge, Dhemaji.

With the aforesaid direction, the IA stands disposed of.

JUDGE

Comparing Assistant