Disposed¶47

Kajan Singh and Ors. v. State

Rajasthan HC19 Jan 2026CRLR/752/2007

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

CRLR-752/2007; Rajasthan Excise Act Section 19/54; Sections 397/401 CrPC revision; conviction affirmed; sentence reduced to period already undergone; 25-year protracted trial; no previous conviction; 2400 pouches country-made liquor tractor-trolley Deeg-Kaman; Alister Anthony Pareira (2012) 2 SCC 648; Haripada Das (1998) 9 SCC 678; Neerchandra S.B. Criminal Revision Petition 1054/2006; Kishan Singh S.B. Criminal Revision Petition 2122/2024; bail bonds cancelled; abatement qua co-petitioner; Bhuwan Goyal, J.; Jaipur Bench.

What did the court decide?

Conviction under Section 19/54 of the Rajasthan Excise Act affirmed; sentence of imprisonment reduced to the period already undergone; accused-petitioner need not surrender; bail bonds cancelled; copy of the order with records directed to be sent to the trial court forthwith. ¶47

Kajan Singh and Ors. Vs State — Rajasthan HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the conviction of the accused-petitioner under Section 19/54 of the Rajasthan Excise Act recorded by the courts below warranted interference in this revision — the merits of conviction having been ultimately not pressed by counsel. +1 more

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Court's answer

With the challenge to conviction not pressed on merits, and nothing on record requiring interference with the finding of guilt, the judgments of the courts below qua conviction of the accused-petitioner are maintained.

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Ratio / Principle

On the question of sentence, given the agony of a protracted trial spanning more than 25 years, the accused-petitioner's age, some further incarceration after judgment, and no evidence of previous conviction, the quantum of sentence is reduced to the period already undergone as sufficient and justifiable to serve the interest of justice; the accused-petitioner need not surrender and his bail bonds are cancelled.

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Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Rajasthan High Court (Jaipur Bench), in a revision under Sections 397/401 CrPC against conviction under Section 19/54 of the Rajasthan Excise Act (recovery of 2400 pouches of country-made liquor from a tractor-trolley intercepted on 25.10.2000; trial court judgment 16.09.2006 affirmed by appellate court 01.05.2007), maintained the conviction — the merits of conviction not having been pressed — but reduced the sentence of one year's simple imprisonment (fine Rs. 2000/- with three months' default imprisonment) to the period already undergone. Grounds: protracted trial spanning over 25 years, the accused's young age (32) at the incident, some incarceration after judgment, and no previous conviction on record, so that no fruitful purpose would be served by jailing him now; reliance placed on Alister Anthony Pareira (2012) 2 SCC 648 and Haripada Das (1998) 9 SCC 678. The revision had abated qua petitioner No. 1 (Kajan Singh) and was disposed of qua petitioner No. 2 (Neeraj); bail bonds cancelled; copy of order sent to the trial court. Coordinate-Bench rulings (Neerchandra, S.B. Crl.R.P. 1054/2006; Kishan Singh, S.B. Crl.R.P. 2122/2024) were pressed by counsel in support of sentence reduction.

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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN BENCH AT JAIPUR

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S.B. Criminal Revision Petition No. 752/2007

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Kajan Singh S/o Dhanpat Singh, R/o Varai P.S. Deeg (Abated) 2) Neeraj S/o Rajjo, R/o Daheli Darwaza, Deeg P.S. Deeg

----Petitioner

Versus

State of Rajasthan

----Respondent

For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Harendra Singh For Respondent(s) : Mr. Vijay Singh Yadav, Addl. G.A.

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HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE BHUWAN GOYAL

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Order

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19/01/2026

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The present revision petition under Section 397 read with Section 401 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been filed by the accused-petitioners against the Judgment and Order dated 01.05.2007 passed by Additional Sessions Judge no. 1, Deeg, Bharatpur (hereinafter referred to as "appellate court") in Criminal Appeal No. 26/2006 (Kajan Singh & Anr. vs. State of Rajasthan) vide which criminal appeal filed by the accused-petitioner has been dismissed and the Judgment and Order dated 16.09.2006 passed by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Deeg, Bharatpur (hereinafter referred to as "trial court") in Criminal Case no. 268/01 (State of Rajasthan vs. Kajan Singh & Anr.) convicting the petitioners for the offence under Section 19/54 of Rajasthan Excise Act and sentencing them to undergo one year simple imprisonment and to pay a fine of Rs. 2000/-, in default of payment of fine, to further undergo three months simple

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imprisonment, has been affirmed. Since the present revision has already been abated against the petitioner No. 1- Kajan Singh, the present revision now survived against petitioner No. 2- Neeraj only.

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Facts of the case in short are that on 25.10.2000 Ganga Ram Meena (PW-5) along with his subordinates was discharging his duties on the route passing from Deeg to Kaman. They saw a tractor (ford) coming from opposite direction, and a trolley was attached with it. One person was driving the said tractor and another was sitting at Mud guard. When they saw excise team, the driver took a U-turn and drove the tractor in a zig zag manner. When Excise team stopped the tractor, persons sitting in the tractor ran away leaving the tractor and trolley. On searching the trolley, 6 sacks were recovered in said trolley, which contained total 2400 pouches of country made liquor. FIR was registered and investigation was commenced. During investigation accusedpetitioner was arrested. After completing the investigation, the police submitted the challan against accused-petitioner for the offence under Section 19/54 of Rajasthan Excise Act before the concerned court. Substance of allegations were read over to the accused-petitioner, who denied the same and claimed for trial. After conclusion of trial, the trial court passed judgment and order dated 16.09.2006 convicting and sentencing the accusedpetitioner for the offence under Section 19/54 of Rajasthan Excise Act as mentioned above. Thereafter, the petitioner filed an appeal and the appellate court vide its judgment dated 01.05.2007 dismissed the appeal and affirmed the judgment dated

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16.09.2006 passed by the trial court. Hence, this criminal revision petition has been preferred by the accused-petitioner.

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Heard learned counsel for the parties.

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After arguing the matter on merits at some length, learned counsel for the accused-petitioner does not want to press instant revision petition challenging judgments passed by the courts below qua conviction and prefers to make submissions on the point of sentence only.

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Learned counsel for the accused-petitioner has submitted that incident in the present case took place way back in the year 2000 i.e. around 25 years ago; accused-petitioner was 32 years of age at the time of incident and now he is around 57 years old and facing agony of trial for the past about 25 years; accusedpetitioner who is sole bread earner in the family, belongs to poor strata of society and remained in police and judicial custody for a period of about 27 days and there is no previous conviction recorded against the accused-petitioner, therefore, he prays that ends of justice would meet if a lenient view is taken in the matter and sentence of imprisonment awarded to the accused-petitioner is reduced to the period already undergone by him.

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Learned counsel for the accused-petitioner has relied upon the judgment rendered by a coordinate Bench of this Court in the cases of Neerchandra & Ors. vs. State of Rajasthan (S.B. Criminal Revision Petition No. 1054/2006) decided on 18.09.2024, Kishan Singh vs. State of Rajasthan (S.B. Criminal Revision Petition No. 2122/2024) decided on 12.12.2024.

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Per contra, learned Government Advocate while opposing the revision petition, submits that looking to the overall facts and circumstances of the case and the well reasoned speaking orders passed by the courts below, sentence awarded by the trial court and affirmed by the appellate court cannot be said to be disproportionate, therefore, no interference in sentence is warranted in this case.

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I have considered the arguments advanced at the Bar and have gone through judgments passed by both the courts below and record of the case. 9. Since the revision petition against conviction of the accusedpetitioner is not pressed on merits and after perusing the record, nothing is noticed which requires interference in the finding of guilt reached by the courts below. This Court does not wish to interfere in the judgments passed by courts below qua conviction of the accused-petitioner. Accordingly, the judgments passed by the courts below qua conviction of the accused-petitioner are maintained.

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As far as quantum of sentence is concerned, after perusing judgments and orders impugned, considering the submissions of learned counsel for the parties; precedent law on the issue; accused-petitioner, who was only 32 years of age at the time of incident, has already suffered the agony of protracted trial, spanning over a period of more than 25 years and he remained incarcerated for some time after passing of the judgment, and no evidence regarding previous conviction of the accused-petitioner is produced on record, this Court is of the opinion that if at this

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stage, he is sent behind bars, the family of the petitioner will also suffer, therefore, no fruitful purpose would be served by sending him to jail now.

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This Court is conscious of the judgments rendered in Alister

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Anthony Pareira Vs. State of Maharashtra : (2012) 2 SCC 648 and Haripada Das Vs. State of W.B. : (1998) 9 SCC 678 , wherein, the Hon'ble Apex Court observed as under:-

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Alister Anthony Pareira (Supra)

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“There is no straitjacket formula for sentencing an accused on proof of crime. The courts have evolved certain principles: twin objective of the sentencing policy is deterrence and correction. What sentence would meet the ends of justice depends on the facts and circumstances of each case and the court must keep in mind the gravity of the crime, motive for the crime, nature of the offence and all other attendant circumstances.”

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Haripada Das (Supra)

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“…considering the fact that the respondent had already undergone detention for some period and the case is pending for a pretty long time for which he had suffered both financial hardship and mental agony and also considering the fact that he had been released on bail as far back as on 17-1-1986, we feel that the ends of justice will be met in the facts of the case if the sentence is reduced to the period already undergone…”

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Consequently, the judgments dated 01.05.2007 and

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16.09.2006 passed by both the courts below qua conviction of the accused-petitioner for the offence under Section 19/54 of Rajasthan Excise Act are affirmed but the quantum of sentence awarded to the accused-petitioner by the trial court and affirmed by the appellate court is reduced to the period already undergone by him, which would be sufficient and justifiable to serve interest of justice. The accused-petitioner is on bail. He need not to surrender. His bail bonds be cancelled.

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