Sentence Of Former IAS Officer, Convicted By CBI Court In Arms Case, Suspended [Read Order]

SS Ahluwalia, a 1968 batch IAS officer and former chief secretary of Nagaland, was booked by the CBI in 1987 in a case of recovery of arms and ammunition from his possession and was sentenced to five years of imprisonment on 02.09.2019, and had been in custody since then. He has been convicted and sentenced u/s 417 r/w section 415 and also section 471 r/w section 467 of the IPC and section 25 of the Arms Act.

The Special CBI Judge, Ms. Illa Rawat, on Thursday suspended the sentence of SS Ahluwalia on an appeal filed by Advocates Akash Nagar and Ramisha Jain.

"The appellant is suffering from Fibromyositis Sarcocystis and requires a dirt-free environment and that he has been admitted in ICU twice due to this disease. He is also suffering from advanced degenerated joint disease of both the knee and had undergone knee replacement in the year 2017. It is further stated that he has faced trial for nearly about 32 years…….. It is accordingly prayed that sentence of appellant be suspended during the pendency of the appeal" urged Mr. Akash Nagar and Ms. Ramisha Jain.

In support of their prayer for suspension of the sentence of the ex- IAS Officer, judgments in Anjana and Anr. v. State of Rajasthan, 2009 (3) SCC 767l; Bhagwam Rama Shinde Gosai And Ors vs State Of Gujarat, 1999 (4) SCC 421 and Suresh Kumar and Ors. v State of NCT of Delhi, 2001 (10) SCC 338 were relied upon.

The Ld. Special Judge held that the judgments cited by CBI opposing the present suspension were irrelevant to the present case, "It is the admitted position that in the instant matter appellant/convict was not arrested after registration of the FIR and the CBI had filed chargesheet without the arrest of the appellant/convict. This alone distinguishes the present case from the facts of the two judgments relied upon on behalf of CBI." 

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