The Punjab and Haryana High Court has expressed shock at the behavior of a judge who held the witness guilty of false statements as he took a contradictory stand before the police and the Court.

Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjay Vashishth said“We are extremely pained and shocked by the manner in which the concerned Additional Sessions Judge Hisar has behaved. We find that the learned judge proceeded from the assumption that the statement made under section 161 Cr. PC before the police is the truthful statement and the statement made in the court is false evidence and also proceeds to impose the punishment on the witness in question.”

The Court held that even before the final settlement of the case on 13.12.2021, the witnesses who spoke in favor of the accused, were made guilty of false statements, which is a total course against the true spirit of criminal jurisprudence.

Stating that the Judge appears to require training on this matter, the Court remanded the matter to the First Judge for administrative action.

These observations were made during the hearing of the request for the suspension of the sentence in the course of an appeal filed by a minor tried as an adult in a case of murder, he was sentenced to life.

Senior Counsel appearing for the appellant submitted that the order passed by the Juvenile Justice Board was defective as it did not comply with the requirements of section 15 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 as there was no psychological assessment of the child, who was only 17 years old, was taken before reaching the conclusion of his trial as an adult.

Having regard to the submission, the Court held that the proceedings initiated by the Children’s Court against the appellant are prima facie flawed.

He also held that the appellant had already served a total sentence of 4 years, 3 months and 21 days.

The Tribunal held that prima facie the applicant/appellant therefore could not have been sentenced to life imprisonment as the eyewitnesses had turned hostile.

Considering the above, the Court suspended the sentence.

Mr. Atul Lakhanpal, Senior Advocate, with Ms. Caral, Advocate, and Mr. Siddhart Chawla, Advocate, for the appellant.

Mr. Apoorv Garg, Principal DAG/Public Prosecutor, Haryana.

Title: DEVENDER @ SACHIN V/S STATE OF HARYANA

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