Early Times Report
Srinagar, Mar 17: The State High Court has dismissed a plea filed by a man against three years jail term and fine to him for sodomising a minor boy in Sumbal area of north Kashmir's Bandipora district in 2002.
The trail court had convicted and sentenced one Feroz Ahmad Khan for the unnatural act and subsequently it was upheld Principal Sessions Judge Bandipora on 24 Junelast year. Khan a resident of Sumbal moved high court by filing a revision petition against the Sessions Court's verdict. "I am not impressed by the mitigating circumstances pointed out by (Khan's) counsel for reduction of the sentence. The victim in the instant case was minor who was subjected to inhuman act by (Khan) taking the benefit of his tender age. Such incidents severely affect the psyche of a child and hounds him for the rest of life," a bench of Justice Sajeev Kumar said, observing that perpetrator of such crime deserves no leniency. "In the instant case, both the Courts below have not found any ambiguity, be it with regard to the place of occurrence, the timing of occurrence or the timing of lodging of the FIR etc. As such, non examination of the Investigating officer in this case where the offence had been demonstratively proved to have been committed by the petitioner, cannot be held to be fatal to the prosecution," the court said and dismissed Khan's plea. The court said it was well settled that the non examination of the Investigating Officer in all cases was not fatal. "The role of the Investigating Officer is to conduct the investigation and present the challan before the competent authority of law. In case of ambiguity in the statement of witness with regard to timing of registration of FIR, the place or occurrence , the timing of occurrence etc, the examination of the Investigating Officer may become necessary . To say that in all cases, non examination of the Investigating Officer is fatal to the prosecution, is not correct." |
