Calcutta High Court
CRA/34/2021 of THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL Vs MOHAN PRASAD DANGAL on 3 September 2026
KOLE 1634 In the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri
S/L-1
08-09-2026
KOLE
In the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri
Calcutta High Court
Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction
CRA 34 of 2021
In the matter of : The State of West Bengal
…….. appellant.
Mr. Jagriti Mishra,
Ms. Smita Mitra Sinha,
Mr. R. Saha,
….. State.
Mr. Ujjwal Luksom,
Mr. Sandipan Das,
… for the respondent.
Dictated by Chaitali Chatterjee (Das), J:-
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1. At the outset as it is detected in the heading of the judgment and order dated 03.09.2026 there is a typographical mistake let it stands corrected by substituting “Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction” in the place and stead of “Civil Appellate Jurisdiction”.
2. Let this correction be incorporated in the judgment and order dated 03.09.2026 and be treated as part of the said judgment.
3. The accused Mohan Prasad Dangal is produced before the court virtually from the District Correctional Home, Kalimpong. He is identified by the learned defence Counsel. The convict is apprised about the order of conviction and the relevant provision under which the order of conviction has been passed by this Court.
4. Heard the learned defence Counsel as well as accused on the point of sentence. It is submitted that at present this accused is about 65 years old. His son and daughter are not residing with him and he will face extreme inconvenience and prays for reducing the sentence as far as is permissible in law.
5. Upon considering the materials on record as well as upon hearing the learned defence Counsel and the convict produced before this Court, we are of the view that the convict Mohan Prasad Dangal be sentenced to suffer 5 years of rigorous imprisonment for the offence committed under Section 9 read with Section 10 of the POCSO Act. He is also directed to suffer rigorous imprisonment for a period of three years for the offence committed under Section 7 of the POCSO Act. Both the sentences to run concurrently, and the period, if any, spent during the trial in the custody to be set off in accordance with 468 of BNSS.
6. Considering the quality of the offence we are not inclined to consider the convict to avail the benefit of Section 3 or 4 of the Prohibition of Offenders Act or Section 401 and Section 402 of BNSS.
7. We are also of the considered view that the victim is entitled for the compensation to be assessed by the CWC, Darjeeling considering the long standing mental trauma forced by him and such compensation is to be paid by the State Legal Services Authority. The entire exercise to be completed upon completion of all required formalities within a period of 30 days from this date.
8. Let trial court records along with a copy of the order and judgment be sent down immediately to the concerned trial court through the office of learned Registrar, Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri for information and taking necessary steps.
9. CRA 34 of 2021 stands disposed of.
10. Department is directed to handover a copy of the judgment and the sentence to the convict free of cost.
11. Urgent certified copy if applied by any of the parties to be supplied subject to observance of all formalities.
( Arijit Banerjee, J. )
(Chaitali Chatterjee (Das), J.)