Akhtar Ali vs. State of Himachal Pradesh CR.A No.217 of 2025 24.09.2026 Present : Mr. Kulwant Singh Gill, Advocate, for the appellant- applicant. Ms. Sharmila Patial, Additional Advocate General, for the respondent-State. CRMP No.1473 of 2026 This application has been filed for suspension of sentence claiming that there is a fair chance of acquittal of the applicant-appellant. To substantiate this claim, two points have been urged by learned counsel for the applicant, first that the applicant is in custody since 24.08.2023; and further that from the statement of the victim, it is apparent that she was well aware about marital status as well as age of the appellant, and therefore, there is no fault on the part of the appellant in commission of offence. The applicant-appellant has been convicted under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) for violating the person of a 15- year-old victim. Therefore, duration of detention is no ground for suspension of sentence, as it cannot be a ground for acquittal of the applicant-appellant. Similarly, the victim is a 15-year-old minor and her consent or knowledge about the age and the marital status of the applicant-appellant is of no help to the applicant-appellant in any manner so as to construe that on this ground there is a fair chance in existence for acquittal of the applicant-appellant. In view of the above discussion, there is no merit in the application and accordingly the application is dismissed. (Vivek Singh Thakur) Judge (Bhupesh Sharma) Judge 24th September, 2026 (Pardeep)