When Chinnadurai, a labourer, fell foul of law smashing a man’s nose and abusing him with obscene words, he must have cursed his luck. But as fate would have it, he managed to get away with a fine of just Rs. 1,000 because the victim happened to be his brother-in-law.
Now, some background. According to the prosecution, the father of the convict had not given any appreciable item to his son-in-law at the time of giving his daughter in marriage. Hence, after several months, the elderly man presented a gold ring of two grams to his son-in-law.
Irked over it, the convict had urged his brother-in-law to return the gold ring. It led to a quarrel followed by a broken nose and a police complaint.
On November 7, 2014, a Judicial Magistrate in Alangudi convicted Chinnadurai under Section 324 (causing hurt voluntarily with dangerous weapons) of Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for one year apart from imposing a fine of Rs. 1,000. The Magistrate also convicted him under Section 294b (uttering obscene words) of the IPC and imposed a fine of Rs. 1,000 for the minor offence. However, on appeal, a Sessions Court on September 23, 2015 set aside the order to undergo imprisonment alone despite confirming the conviction and fine amount imposed under both the sections.
The Sessions Court directed the convict to pay a compensation of Rs. 10,000 to the victim instead of undergoing imprisonment. However, claiming that he did not have the wherewithal to pay compensation, the petitioner moved a criminal revision petition before the Madras High Court Bench here.
Disposing of the revision petition, Justice P. Devadass said: “Now, the petitioner’s sister will be in a precarious position. With her brother on one side as accused and her husband on the other as a victim, she is placed in a piquant situation. Both are dear to her. Both sides are very poor. In such circumstances, the direction to pay Rs. 10,000 as compensation is not necessary. Accordingly, it is set aside.”
Despite breaking his brother-in-law’s nose, accused has walked away free given the ‘piquant’ situation
