intention to terminate the unborn child ,as such accused Altaf Ahmad Hajam is convicted under section 316 RPC read with section 34 RPC and 120-B RPC. He is sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of ten years with fine of Rs.20,000/- In default of payment of fine the accused shall under go further imprisonment of six months. The accused is also convicted under section 304-II/34 RPC and sentenced to the period already undergone with a fine of Rs.30,000/- In default of payment of fine he shall undergo an imprisonment for a period of nine months. The accused is directed to be taken into custody and sent to Central Jail, Srinagar, to suffer the sentence. His bail bond is cancelled.
Accused No.2: Ghulam Mohd Hajam S/o Mohd Akbar Hajam R/o Hajam Mohalla, Nowgam, against whom the prosecution has failed to establish the case is acquitted of the charges framed against him for lack of evidence and proof. His surety shall stand discharged.
Accused No.3: Dr. Ghulam Nabi Bhat S/o Mohd Sultan R/o Gopal Pora, against whom the prosecution has proved its case is held guilty of inducing abortion of Mst. Rafiqa D/o Gh. Mohd Sheikh R/o Sonwar in his clinic Jehlum Diagnostic Centre HSHS Srinagar at an advanced stage of her pregnancy and who died during the termination of fetus in his clinic and was subsequently dumped in SMHS Hospital, Srinagar. This will not be out of place to mention that the accused has become habitual of repeating such offences and number of cases stand registered against him not only in District Srinagar but in District Budgam as well. The court is informed that two fresh cases i.e. case FIR No.41/2011 and case FIR No. 02/2012 are pending against the accused in Srinagar courts alone.
The accused is accordingly convicted under section 316 RPC read with section 34 and 120-B RPC. He is sentenced to undergo a rigorous imprisonment of ten years and is also liable to fine of Rs.30,000/- In default of payment of fine he shall undergo further imprisonment of nine months. The accused is also convicted under section304-II RPC read with section 34 and 120-B RPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment of ten years with a fine of Rs.20,000/- In default of fine he shall under go further imprisonment of six months. Both the sentences shall run concurrently. The accused shall be sent to Central Jail Srinagar to suffer the sentence. His bail bond shall stand cancelled.
Accused No.4: Ab. Majeed Hajam S/o Ama Hajam R/o Hajam Mohalla, Nowgam, against whom the prosecution has failed to establish the case is acquitted of the charges framed against him for lack of evidence and proof. His surety shall stand discharged.
Accused No.5: The role of accused No.5, Reyaz Ahmad Dar S/o Ab. Rehman Dar R/o Bagat Barzulla in the case is limited to the extent of carrying the dead body of Mst. Rafiqa to SMHS Hospital, Srinagar, in his Maruti Car as per his own admission in his reply to the charge and he being a part of the conspiracy hatched to dump the dead body deserves to b e dealt with leniently. He is convicted under section 120-B RPC and sentenced to the period already under gone by him with a fine of Rs.50,000/- In default of payment of fine he shall under go simple imprisonment of one year. In case the fine is not realized the accused be sent to Central Jail, Srinagar to suffer the sentence. The surety shall stand discharged.
Accused No.6: Mohd Ashraf Bhat S/o Mohd Sultan Bhat R/o Bumai Sopore, is brother of accused No.3 and has been working with him at his clinic as an Assistant. The prosecution has proved its case against him as being the part of every criminal act committed by the accused No.1 and 3. He has been an active party to the criminal conspiracy first while the fetus was being terminated illegally and then after the death of the lady to dispose of the dead body. The accused is convicted under section 316 RPC read with section 34 and 120-B RPC and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment of five years. He is also convicted under section 304-II RPC read with 34 and 120-B RPC and sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs.20,000/- In default of payment of fine he shall undergo a further imprisonment of six months. Both the sentences shall run concurrently. The accused be taken into custody and sent to Central Jail, Srinagar to suffer the sentence. Bail bond shall stand cancelled.
Accused No.7: Mst. Safia D/o Gh. Rasool Dar R/o Chana Mohalla, Chattabal, is the mid wife working in the clinic has been part of the criminal conspiracy to terminate the fetus of Mst. Rafiqa at an advanced stage of her pregnancy. In view of the accused being a middle aged women and having played a limited role deserves a lenient view while holding her guilty and liable to conviction in the present case. She is convicted under section 120-B RPC and sentenced to the period already undergone and also liable to pay a fine of Rs.20,000/- In default of payment of fine she shall undergo a simple imprisonment of six months. In case the fine is not realized from the accused she be sent to Central Jail, Srinagar, to suffer the sentence.
Fine if realized from the accused shall be paid to the family members of the deceased, Mst. Rafiqa.
Before parting with the judgment I want to bring out some words sprouting in my conscience as it wants to rip open the blanket of my mind and is gasping for day light. The brazen defiance of the edicts of the Almighty and gluttonous embezzlement of moral ethics is best how the instant matter can be understood.
The fanatic audacity with which the unborn miniature was silenced forever and the fact that its devastating periphery engulfed the very person who design it, is in itself an illustration of how far the civilized social order has drifted away from the very foundations on which it once came to be called as civilized. It once again unveils the secretive social disorders and inflating malignancies procreating within the spheres of our rein less lives. It is one of the numerous wakeup calls that nature sometimes chooses to offer so that we wake up from the deep slumber that we have deliberately opted for instead of alertness. What an irony that once a man sets his society in motion and strategically creates it, offers himself to be controlled by its components rather than him operating it for his betterment and prosperity. Yes, there have been efforts from many fronts to curb the anomalies but it is equally true that it proves to be inadequate and weak. Before the laws are made more stringent and inescapable, scruples of every individual of the society have to be awoken for which collective effort is required from judiciary, executive and the masses. The time is ripe to identify and shovel out the rotten contents lest it degrade the entire basket. I do not know what pleas the eliminated life would put forth before God, but certainly it has posed certain questions to us and we must find its answers. Copy of the judgment be furnished to the accused free of costs.
The file after its due compilation be consigned to records.
Announced,
( Mohammad Shafi Khan )
Principal Sessions Judge, Srinagar.
Hell with them. Jahanam yeyen zinaiyen