Calcutta high court reduces sentence of man convicted of assaulting 65-year-old with spade in 2005 land dispute

KOLKATA: ‘Balancing the scales of punitive justice with the mitigating realities of human existence’ Calcutta High Court on May 22 reduced the three-year sentence of a Nadia man who had assaulted a 65-year-old man in 2005; but directed him to pay Rs 1,000 fine.Justice Ananya Bandopadhyay upheld the conviction by a Nadia court of Bablu Ghosh, stating that from medical evidence to investigation, everything pointed to the assault, which took place on January 11, 2005 at 1 pm.

The victim's buffalo wandered off to Bablu’s field. This led to him beating the 65-year-old from the back of a spade. The victim's son in the complaint also pointed out that a day before conflict arose over picking up sugarcane leaves as well.

He was taken to Tehatta Sub-Division Hospital and from there he was referred to Shaktinagar District Hospital. The radiologist report stated that a pertrochanteric fracture of the neck of the femur “accompanied by an avulsion of the trochanters – an injury he conceded during cross examination could be sustained by falling heavily upon a hard, blunt substance.”

Justice Bandopadhyay upheld the conviction, but observed, “Balancing the scales of punitive justice with the mitigating realities of human existence requires a measured modification of the penal consequence. The criminal transaction dates back to the year 2005, and the appellant has endured the psychological and social crucible of a protracted criminal prosecution for over two decades. He has advanced significantly in age, possesses no prior criminal antecedents, and the conflict itself arose from a spontaneous, localized agrarian dispute rather than any premeditated malice or professional criminality.”

The single judge also noted that the brutal nature of assault on an elderly precludes the complete extension of reformative clemency under the Probation of Offenders Act. Hence the sentence was modified but the financial penalty remained.