MUMBAI: Observing that the accused is a public servant who was working as an assistant income-tax commissioner at the time of alleged offence and assaulted the victim, a ticket checker, with a chappal for discharging his public duty at a railway station in 2016, a sessions court on Tuesday convicted and sentenced the man to six months’ rigorous imprisonment and also fined him Rs 1 lakh.
The accused, Rishikumar Singh, had attacked the victim after he was stopped for travelling without a ticket. Judge SD Tawshikar said, “….considering the increase in the incidents of assault on public servant and the peculiar manner of assault on the victim, sentence of imprisonment as well as fine is necessary to be awarded”.
The judge further said that while the victim, Sujitkumar Gupta, had not suffered any visible injuries, he had dealt with great insult and mental agony. Out of the total fine amount, Rs 50,000 is to be given to the victim as compensation.
Among the 10 witnesses that deposed were the victim and two other ticket checkers. The victim told the court that the incident took place on October 8, 2016, at 7.15pm when he asked the accused to show his ticket on seeing him hurriedly going to platform number 14-15 at CSMT. The accused replied, “I am an income-tax commissioner, I don’t need to take ticket, who are you to ask me about..,” and then hit him with his chappal on his cheeks when stopped from leaving.
The accused denied the allegations and claimed that the victim had demanded a bribe, and that he had no authority to levy a fine as he was not wearing his blazer and therefore not in full uniform.
In the 41-page judgement made available on Thursday, the judge said that the submissions of the accused were an afterthought and completely vague and baseless.
The judge refuted the defence claims that since the victim was not wearing his full uniform he was not discharging his duty as a public servant. “… not wearing full uniform while discharging the duty would not change the nature of their duty i.e, a public duty. Not wearing blazer or tie is a minor and technical thing, which would not take away his status of being a public servant and discharging duty in said capacity. His being present on the spot i.e. at railway station by wearing a white shirt with an identity card in his neck and asking for a ticket is sufficient to give reasonable belief to everyone there that he is a TC,” said the judge, adding that
“there is ample oral evidence adduced on record to boost prosecution case.”
The accused, Rishikumar Singh, had attacked the victim after he was stopped for travelling without a ticket. Judge SD Tawshikar said, “….considering the increase in the incidents of assault on public servant and the peculiar manner of assault on the victim, sentence of imprisonment as well as fine is necessary to be awarded”.
The judge further said that while the victim, Sujitkumar Gupta, had not suffered any visible injuries, he had dealt with great insult and mental agony. Out of the total fine amount, Rs 50,000 is to be given to the victim as compensation.
Among the 10 witnesses that deposed were the victim and two other ticket checkers. The victim told the court that the incident took place on October 8, 2016, at 7.15pm when he asked the accused to show his ticket on seeing him hurriedly going to platform number 14-15 at CSMT. The accused replied, “I am an income-tax commissioner, I don’t need to take ticket, who are you to ask me about..,” and then hit him with his chappal on his cheeks when stopped from leaving.
The accused denied the allegations and claimed that the victim had demanded a bribe, and that he had no authority to levy a fine as he was not wearing his blazer and therefore not in full uniform.
In the 41-page judgement made available on Thursday, the judge said that the submissions of the accused were an afterthought and completely vague and baseless.
The judge refuted the defence claims that since the victim was not wearing his full uniform he was not discharging his duty as a public servant. “… not wearing full uniform while discharging the duty would not change the nature of their duty i.e, a public duty. Not wearing blazer or tie is a minor and technical thing, which would not take away his status of being a public servant and discharging duty in said capacity. His being present on the spot i.e. at railway station by wearing a white shirt with an identity card in his neck and asking for a ticket is sufficient to give reasonable belief to everyone there that he is a TC,” said the judge, adding that
“there is ample oral evidence adduced on record to boost prosecution case.”
