Patna, April 25 (PTI) The Patna High Court has pulled up two lower court judges in Bihar, slapping them with fines of a "token amount", for conviction of a person in a case that was deemed "not maintainable against him".

Justice Bibek Chaudhuri passed the order allowing the petition of Sunil Pandit, a resident of Dalsinghsarai sub-division in Samastipur district, who had challenged the conviction by lower courts.

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Pandit contested an order from the additional sessions court in Samastipur, which in 2016 upheld the three-year rigorous imprisonment sentence imposed on him by the trial court.

The petitioner was named in an FIR lodged by a woman who resided in the same village and had accused her husband of dowry harassment.

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Justice Chaudhuri acquitted the petitioner, charged with offence under IPS Section 498A (cruelty against a woman by her husband or his relatives) and the Dowry Act, observing that in the FIR, it was clearly stated by the complainant that the petitioner had been arrayed as "advisor of other accused persons" and he was "not a relative of the husband" against whom the aforementioned IPC section could be invoked.

The court directed the judicial officers concerned, sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Dalsinghsarai, and additional sessions judge III, Samastipur, to deposit a "token amount" of Rs 100 each in "criminal cash section" of the CJM's Court.

Justice Chaudhuri added that the fine was being imposed in view of "mental agony, trauma and social ignominy suffered by the petitioner" on account of "lackadaisical approach of both the courts below".

"It is bounden and obligatory duty of all courts to go through the complaint carefully and then to take cognizance and proceed against the accused persons in accordance with law", added Justice Chaudhuri.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)