Summary
The Supreme Court partly allowed a sentence-only appeal concerning possession of three litres of arrack. The applicable Abkari provision required both imprisonment and a fine of at least ₹1 lakh, so the fine could not be reduced. Considering the appellant’s poverty, age, absence of criminal antecedents, the small quantity, the twelve-year-old case and approximately two-and-a-half months already served, the Court reduced substantive imprisonment to time undergone. It reduced default imprisonment to one week if the mandatory fine was not paid within one month.
Issues
- Whether the applicable statutory fine could be reduced below ₹1 lakh.
- Whether the circumstances warranted reduction of substantive and default imprisonment.
Provisions considered
- Section 8(2), Kerala Abkari Act, as amended by Act 16 of 1997Both imprisonment and fine were mandatory. Imprisonment could be fixed within the ten-year maximum, but the Court lacked jurisdiction to reduce the fine below the statutory ₹1 lakh minimum. (¶ 11–15)
Held
- Conviction was not challenged on merits; the appeal concerned imprisonment and fine. Section 8(2) required both forms of punishment, permitting discretion over imprisonment up to ten years while prescribing a minimum fine of ₹1 lakh. (¶¶ 7–8, 11–15)
- The appellant was over fifty, below the poverty line and without means to pay the fine, had no past criminal involvement, possessed only three litres of arrack, and had served approximately two-and-a-half months in a case almost twelve years old. Taken together, these circumstances justified reducing substantive imprisonment from three months to time already undergone. (¶ 16–19)
- The mandatory ₹1 lakh fine remained payable. Default imprisonment was reduced from two weeks to one week, to be undergone if the fine was not deposited within one month of the order. The appeal was partly allowed to that extent. (¶ 17–20)
Result
Appeal partly allowed: substantive imprisonment reduced to time undergone; ₹1 lakh fine retained, payable within one month, with one week’s imprisonment in default.