Panchkula man sentenced to one year in prison for beating up his friend; court reprimands police for ‘sloppy’ work

A local court reprimanded the Panchkula police for their “sloppy investigation” and sentenced a Sector 19 resident to one year in prison for injuring his friend by hitting him repeatedly with a blunt weapon in 2018.

Judge Arunima Chauhan reprimanded the police and said, “It is important to mention here that it is obvious that the police investigation was a complete failure and botched.”

The convict has been identified as Gaurav, 26, of Panchkula. In November 2018, he had attacked Kamal, alias Kartik, of Pinjore with an axe, seriously injuring the victim.

The court also imposed a fine of ₹15,000 for prisoners.

“It was of crucial importance that the investigating officers sent the murder weapon to the Madhuban Forensic Laboratory for forensic examination after recovering it so that fingerprints and blood stains could be found on the weapon even if they had been washed off by rain as claimed by the prosecution,” the court stressed in the order.

“But this court is aware of the principle of law that guilty persons should not be entitled to any benefit of prosecution’s omission. Moreover, it is a settled position of law that sloppy, defective investigation or negligence in investigation cannot adversely affect the prosecution and does not absolve the accused from liability if the direct evidence available on record is credible,” the court ruled while sentencing Gaurav to one year in jail.

Court: lenient attitude sends wrong signal

In its verdict, the court stated, “The accused (now convicted) committed the offence with a sharp weapon and inflicted several injuries on the victim. The facts of the case clearly indicate malice on the part of the accused as he hatched a conspiracy against the victim and lured her into trusting him and falling into his trap.”

“In addition, it would send the wrong signal to society to adopt a lenient attitude when pronouncing the sentence, since the act of violence in question is extreme and could shock the conscience of the general public,” the court ruled, rejecting the request for a reduced sentence.

Compensation for disabled victims

The court ordered compensation of ₹2 Lakh to the plaintiff Kamal, of which ₹10,000 dollars collected from the accused as fine shall be paid to the victim. The court directed DLSA Panchkula to pay adequate compensation to the victim.

Kamal suffered injuries to his head, neck and hands in the attack and stated in court that these injuries left him unable to use his hands properly.

The case in a nutshell

Narrating the attack, Kamal said he knew Gaurav for six years. On November 10, 2018, at around 8:30 pm, Gaurav called him and arranged to meet him near Metro Road in Zirakpur. He went to meet him. Around midnight, he and Gaurav walked from a narrow path to the river and there Gaurav attacked him with an axe, injuring him, he said.

A case under sections 324 (intentional assault), 326 (grievous assault) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Chandimandir police station.