SAROJA Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition coming on for hearing on this day upon perusing the petition and the Judgments of the Lower Courts, and the record in the case, and upon hearing the arguments of Mr. N. Jothi, Advocate for the Petitioner, and of Mr. T. Munirathinam Naidu for the Public Prosecutor on behalf of the State, the court made the following order; This is a revision petition by the accused. A report was filed by the police officer to the effect that the petitioner-accused appeared to have committed an offence punishable under Section 8 of the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act, 1956. The accused pleaded guilty to the charge. Thereupon the concerned Magistrate sent for the report from the Probation Officer. After perusing the report of the Probation Officer from which it was gathered that the petitioner was not a person convicted for the first time, the Court ordered the petitioner to be detained for a period of two years in a corrective institution under Section 10-A of the Act.

(2.) The accused preferred an appeal against the sentence. That appeal was dismissed by the Sessions Court of North Arcot by Judgment dated 4-4-1985. Aggrieved by that Judgment the accused has preferred this revision.

(3.) The case of the revision petitioner is that upon a perusal of the report of the Probation Officer, the Court has passed a severer sentence against the accused and that before doing so the Court should have under the provision of section 211(7) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, mentioned the fact, the date and place of the previous conviction to the accused either in the charge or at any time before the sentence was passed. It was contended that in the absence of such mention the sentence passed by the Court below was illegal.