Nagpur: Refusing leniency to a convict, who had injured four persons of a family during a robbery attempt, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court ruled that just because injuries were minor , he can’t escape the clutches of law, particularly under IPC’s Section 397 which deals with causing grievous injuries while attempting robbery or dacoity.While dismissing petitioner Mahesh Gupta’s appeal challenging his conviction on October 5, 2005 by Akola court, Justice Vinay Deshpande directed him to surrender as he was on bail for over a decade.“For punishment under Section 397, the prosecution is required to prove use of deadly weapon or grievous hurt or attempt to cause death. In this case, the prosecution has proved use of deadly weapon by the petitioner. Therefore, the injuries were minor in nature cannot be the ground to escape the clutches of Section 397,” the judge held.Justice Deshpande further noted that merely because blood wasn’t found on the weapon, the entire prosecution case can’t be branded as untruthful one, especially in the light of substantive evidence of four injured eyewitnesses. “The appellant contended that no blood was detected on the knife . In my view, much capital can’t be made of this aspect, since the chemical analyser's reports are always in the nature of corroborative piece of evidence,” he said.The petitioner had attempted a robbery along with his acquaintance on April 20, 2002, at Chhoti Umri in Vrundavan Nagar of Akola after midnight. He had used a knife and caused injuries to many persons, who resisted him.After being caught, Gupta was convicted by additional sessions judge under sections 394 read with 397 of the IPC on the basis of testimony of seven witnesses. He was directed to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years and to pay a fine of Rs 500.The petitioner contended that he had dashed against a woman on bicycle following which the remaining complainants had assaulted him. In the scuffle, the complainants had sustained injuries, Gupta claimed. The HC, however, refused to buy this argument. “The time of the incident is past midnight. It’s hard to believe that a married woman will ply a cycle in the night for nothing,” the judge said.Justice Deshpande added that since Gupta used a knife while committing the robbery, his case falls within the first part of Section 397. “Even during the trial or before the HC, the petitioner’s presence on the spot hasn’t been denied by him. In my view, grievous hurt alone is not sine qua non for punishment under Section 397,” the HC ruled and upheld the sessions court’s verdict.

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