New Delhi: A man held guilty of committing criminal breach of trust and misappropriating the scooter of one of his acquaintances has been let off by a Delhi court on the ground that he faced the trial for over ten years.
Metropolitan Magistrate Ankur Jain freed 31-year-old Uttar Pradesh native Sirajuddin alias Guddu after sentencing them to a prison term that he had already spent in jail during his trial.
During his trial, Guddu had been in jail for over three months -- from September 18, 2001 to December 5, 2001 and again from May 19 to May 27 in 2009.
"In view of the submissions of accused and the fact that accused has faced trial for more than 10 years in the case and considering the family background of the accused, the ends of justice would be met if the accused is sentenced to undergo sentence for the period already undergone," the court said.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 7,000 on Guddu, stipulating that Rs 5,000 out of it would be given to the victim, whose scooter he had misappropriated after promising to buy it from him.
The case against Guddu was lodged on September 5, 2001 on the complainant of one Pankaj Sharma, who used to supply tea leaves to one Raju, a roadside tea vendor.
In his complaint, he said Guddu, who used to work in a neighbouring book-binding shop, often used to tell him to sell his scooter to him.
Pankaj said on the day of the incident, Guddu struck a deal with him to buy his scooter for Rs 20,000 and took it from him on the pretext of its test-drive.
But after taking the scooter, he never returned it, prompting Pankaj to lodge the complaint after which Guddu was arrested.
PTI
