Order
1. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties at length.
2. The appellant Mohd. Maqbool Tantray along with 17 others was tried for offences punishable under Sections 302/392/364, etc. of the Ranbir Penal Code (for short “RPC”) and Section 3(1) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (hereinafter referred to as “TADA”) for being involved in the abduction and murder of the former MLA Mir Mustafa on 25-3-1990. Eleven of the accused were discharged on the statement made by the Public Prosecutor, three died during the pendency of the trial and one absconded and three were brought to trial including the appellant.
3. In the trial three co-accused of the appellant herein were acquitted but the court relying on the evidence of various prosecution witnesses and in particular on the confessional statement given by the appellant to the SSP, Mr A.K Suri, convicted him for offences punishable under Section 364 read with Section 120-B RPC and sentenced him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay a fine of Rs. 1000, in default to undergo imprisonment for six months and under Section 3(2)(ii) of TADA to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 14 years and to pay a fine of Rs. 5000, in default of payment of fine to further undergo imprisonment for a period of one year, both the sentences to run concurrently. The present appeal has been filed impugning the judgment of the trial court as the appeal under TADA lies directly to the Supreme Court.
4. Mr Agrawala, the learned counsel for the appellant has not argued the matter on merits but has pointed out that in view of the above facts more particularly that eleven out of eighteen accused had been discharged and the two co-accused of the appellant herein had been acquitted vide the impugned judgment and the additional fact that the trial had continued for almost twenty years and that the appellant had also undergone almost 11½ years of the sentence and that he had made a confession before the SSP which showed his remorse, it was appropriate that the sentence be reduced to that already undergone.
5. For the proposition that in a case of a confession made by a remorseful repentant convict some leniency in the sentence was called for the learned counsel has placed reliance on the judgment of this Court in Gurdeep Singh v. State (Delhi Admn.) (2000) 1 SCC 498. The learned Solicitor General has, however, pointed out that the appellant was one of the prime movers in the incident which had led to the death of Mir Mustafa and as Section 2 of TADA provided for a life sentence, the appellant had already been dealt with in a lenient way and no further latitude should be shown to him.
6. It is indeed true that a conviction under TADA is a very serious matter and calls for a deterrent punishment. At the same time, the facts of each case cannot be ignored. We see that all the co-accused of the appellant have either been acquitted or have not been brought to trial. We also see from the record that the appellant has expressed his regrets for the circumstances which had ultimately led to the murder of Mir Mustafa. The trial court has given a positive finding that the appellant was only involved with the abduction part and had nothing to do with the murder of the MLA.
7. We also see from the record that the appellant has undergone more than 11½ years of the sentence after facing a protracted trial spread over almost twenty years. We have also been told by Mr Agrawala that he had been released on bail for a period of 1½ years and during this period his conduct and behaviour had remained exemplary. We also notice that in Gurdeep Singh case (2000) 1 SCC 498 this Court observed as under:
“25. Before concluding we would like to record our conscientious feeling for the consideration by the legislature, if it deem fit and proper. Punishment to an accused in criminal jurisprudence is not merely to punish the wrongdoer but also to strike a warning to those who are in the same sphere of crime or to those intending to join in such crime. This punishment is also to reform such wrongdoers not to commit such offence in future. The long procedure and the arduous journey of the prosecution to find the whole truth is achieved sometimes by turning on the accused as approvers. This is by giving incentive to an accused to speak the truth without fear of conviction. Now turning to the confessional statement, since it comes from the core of the heart through repentance, where such accused is even ready to undertake the consequential punishment under the law, it is this area which needs some encouragement to such an accused through some respite may be by reducing the period of punishment, such incentive would transform more such incoming accused to confess and speak the truth. This may help to transform an accused to reach the truth and bring to an end successfully the prosecution of the case.”
8. We find that the aforesaid observations would apply to the present case as well. We, accordingly, while dismissing the appeal, reduce the sentence from fourteen years to that already undergone. The appeal stands disposed of accordingly.