New Delhi: A man has been sentenced to two years and three months in jail for assaulting a policeman with a blade inside the courtroom where he was produced after his arrest in a theft case.
After sentencing city resident Hasruddin for assaulting Assistant Sub-Inspector Desh Raj and injuring him, Metropolitan Magistrate Navita Kumari Bagha, however, set off his sentence against the jail term already undergone by him during the trial.
Hasruddin was held guilty under section 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), section 353 (using criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons) of the IPC.
"Thus apart from inflicting injury with blade on the ASI, the accused had obstructed him in discharge of his public function and further assaulted and used criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty and thus committed offence under sections 324, 186 and 353 of the IPC," the court said.
While imposing the sentence, the court noted that the police had sought maximum punishment for him while the accused had pleaded for leniency as he had already been in jail for two years and three months.
"In view of the facts and circumstances, the convict is sentenced to imprisonment for the period already undergone by him," the court said.
The victim, ASI Desh Raj had deposed that on September 3, 2008, he had brought Hasruddin to the court as he was an accused in a theft case.
He said after the hearing of the case, he was taking the accused to the lockup when he, "taking advantage of the rush in the court, suddenly picked up a blade from the table in the court room and stabbed him twice at his left cheek with it and threatened to kill him."
The accused also used the blade to stab himself in the abdomen, the court was told.
Hasruddin had, however, pleaded innocence in the case saying he was falsely implicated and recovery of blade was "planted upon him".
PTI
