LexSONU CHOUDARY versus STATE OF NCT DELHI
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[2024] 11 S.C.R. 786 : 2024 INSC 864 Sonu Choudary v. State of NCT Delhi (Criminal Appeal No. 3111 of 2024) 06 November 2024 [Bela M. Trivedi and Satish Chandra Sharma, JJ.] Issue for Consideration Issue arose as to whether the conviction of the appellant u/ss.324 and 452 IPC is sustainable; and whether a restaurant can be said to be a place used for dwelling or for worship or for the custody of property for convicting a person u/s.452 IPC for committing offence of house tresspass. Headnotes† Penal Code, 1860 – ss.324 and 452 – Voluntarily causing hurt – House trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint – Prosecution case that the appellant inflicted injuries with the blade on the thigh, shoulder and back of the owner of the restaurant, when the owner refused to give the appellant water to consume alcohol – Victim’s friend tried to intervene, however, he was also inflicted injury – Conviction and sentence u/ss. 324 and 452 by the courts below – Correctness: Held: Prosecution proved the guilt of the appellant so far as the offence u/s.324, “voluntarily causing hurt” to the injured and was rightly convicted and sentenced for the offence u/s.324 – As regards s.452, the incident took place in a restaurant run by the injured which cannot be said to be either a place used for human dwelling or for worship or for the custody of the property – Thus, the very ingredients of the offence u/s.452, namely, the criminal trespass as contemplated in s.441 and house trespass as contemplated in s.442 having not been made out by the prosecution, the appellant could not have been convicted for the offence u/s.452 – Thus, conviction and sentence awarded for offence u/s.452 by the trial court and confirmed by the High Court set aside – Appellant acquitted for the offence u/s.452. [Paras 6, 7, 9-12] [2024] 11 S.C.R. 787 Sonu Choudary v. State of NCT Delhi List of Acts Penal Code, 1860. List of Keywords Place used for dwelling or for worship or for custody of property for convicting a person u/s.452 IPC; Offence of house tresspass; Voluntarily causing hurt; House trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint; Infliction of injuries with blade. Case Arising From CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No. 3111 of 2024 From the Judgment and Order dated 21.02.2024 of the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi in CRLA No. 243 of 2023 Appearances for Parties Suvendu Suvasis Dash, Ms. Swati Vaibhav, M/s. Vaibhav & Dash Law Associates, Advs. for the Appellant. Mrs. Archana Pathak Dave, A.S.G., Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Advs. for the Respondent. Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court Judgment 1. The instant appeal arises out of the impugned order dated 21.02.2024 passed by the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi in Criminal Appeal No.243 of 2023, whereby the High Court had dismissed the appeal preferred by the appellant and confirmed the judgment of conviction dated 30.11.2022 and order on sentence dated 04.02.2023 passed by the Addl. Sessions Judge-FTC-02 (South East), Saket Courts, Delhi (“Trial Court”). Vide the said judgment, the appellant was convicted for the offences under Sections 324 and 452 of the IPC, and was directed to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of two years and to pay fine of Rs.1,00,000/- for the offence under Section 324 IPC and in default thereof, to undergo further simple imprisonment for a period of six months, and was further sentenced to undergo simple imprisonment for a period of four years and to pay fine of 788 [2024] 11 S.C.R. Digital Supreme Court Reports Rs.5,000/- for the offence under Section 452 IPC, in default thereof, to undergo further simple imprisonment for a period of three months. 2. The case of the prosecution in short was that on 06.10.2014, the appellant-accused had gone to the restaurant namely, Baithak Restaurant, run by the injured Rajat Dhyani (PW-1). He asked for a jug of water to consume alcohol. When the said Rajat refused to give water, the appellant – accused took out a blade and inflicted injuries on the thigh, shoulder and back of the said Rajat. When the said Rajat called his friend Imran Khan (PW-3), he tried to intervene, however, the appellant caused injury on stomach with the blade to Imran also. On receiving the information about the incident (DD No.3A), the Investigating Officer found the two injured persons, and the appellant was apprehended on the spot. 3. It is sought to
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