STATE OF H.P. vs DHARMA PAL — Crl.A. No. 334/1997

Summary: State of H.P. v. Dharma Pal (Crl.A. No. 334/1997) On 13 November 2003, the Supreme Court dismissed the State of Himachal Pradesh's appeal against the High Court's decision to release respondent Dharma Pal under Section 4 of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958, while upholding his conviction for attempted rape under Sections 376 and 511 IPC. The Court found that although attempt to commit rape is a serious offence, the accused's status as a minor (under 21 years) at the time of occurrence, the age of the case (14+ years old), and good conduct during six years under the High Court's judgment warranted no interference with the High Court's lenient order. This case analysis is maintained by casestatus.in based on publicly available court records.