RAMESH CHAND vs STATE OF UTTARANCHAL — Crl.A. No. 416/2004

Case Summary: Ramesh Chand v. State of Uttaranchal (2010) Outcome: The Supreme Court disposed of the appeal with modifications to the sentence. The Court reduced Ramesh Chand's imprisonment from two years to one year under IPC Sections 457 and 380, while maintaining the three-month sentence under Section 3/7 of the Essential Commodities Act. His bail bonds were cancelled. Key Facts: Chand, a godown chowkidar in Uttarkashi, was convicted of illegally selling departmental cement to a private party in December 1982. Both lower courts and the High Court upheld the conviction. The Court rejected arguments that insufficient evidence existed against him, noting he was found cleaning cement traces at arrest, and accepted his role as chowkidar prevented ignorance of the theft. Reasoning: While maintaining concurrent findings of guilt, the Court recognized the case's extreme age (28 years elapsed) as a mitigating circumstance warranting sentence reduction. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.