Day before PM’s visit, Chandigarh sees first two convictions under BNS

The first order involved a snatching case registered on November 13 at the Sector 17 police station under Sections 304 (2) (snatching), 317 (2) (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 3 (5) (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention) of the BNS.

Just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Chandigarh to review the newly implemented criminal laws, a local court passed the city’s first two judgments under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), sentencing two convicts.

Three accused were convicted in two separate cases of snatching and theft in Chandigarh on Monday. (Getty Images/Purestock)

The first order involved a snatching case registered on November 13 at the Sector 17 police station under Sections 304 (2) (snatching), 317 (2) (dishonestly receiving stolen property) and 3 (5) (criminal act done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention) of the BNS.

The convicts, Mohit and Ajay, had snatched ₹1,700 in cash and an Aadhaar card from victim Shiv Dyal in Sector 23. The victim had chased the motorcycle-borne snatchers and apprehended one of them. Eventually, the second snatcher was also arrested and it was found that the motorcycle used in the crime was stolen.

The challan was submitted on November 21, charges were framed on November 28 and on December 2, the trial court found both guilty. Sentencing them to one-year rigorous imprisonment (RI), the court also slapped a fine of ₹2,000 each on the convicts.

The second case involved a theft and trespass at a government house in Sector 16-A. On September 1, Ravinder Singh, a work inspector, had found Deepak of Dadumajra exiting the house with a bag containing stolen electric wires and brass valves. After the police were notified, the accused was arrested.

An FIR under Sections 305 (theft), 331(3) (lurking house trespass) and 317(2) (dishonestly receiving stolen property) was then lodged at the Sector 17 police station.

Police submitted the challan in court on October 19, charges were framed on October 25 and the accused was declared guilty on December 2. The court sentenced Deepak to one year of RI and a ₹2,000 fine for theft, and two years of RI and a ₹3,000 fine for trespass.

Notably, police had filed the first chargesheet under BNS in a theft case on August 24, registered at the Industrial Area police station.