Supreme Court – Daily Orders
Sonu vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh on 6 April, 2026
Author: Aravind Kumar
Bench: Aravind Kumar
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. OF 2026
(@SLP(CRL.) NO.1598 OF 2026)
SONU APPELLANT
VERSUS
STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ANR. RESPONDENTS
O R D E R
1. Leave granted.
2. Heard learned counsels appearing for the parties and
perused the case papers.
3. Appellant who was tried for offences punishable under
Sections 354, 376 (a) (b), 506 Part-II of the Indian Penal
Code (IPC) and Section 9(m)/10 and 5(m)/6 of the Protection
of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act) came
to be convicted for the offence punishable under Sections 354
IPC with Section 9(m) of POCSO Act and acquitted of the other
offences. Appeal having been preferred, same is pending
Signature Not Verified
before the jurisdictional High Court and successive
Digitally signed by
RASHI GUPTA
Date: 2026.04.09
14:14:01 IST
Reason:
1 SLP(CRL.) NO.1598 OF 2026
applications filed for suspension of sentence are rejected.
Hence, the appellant is before this Court seeking suspension
of sentence and grant of bail.
4. The trial court has found that there are no material
contradiction in the complainant’s statement and the
statement of victim is also corroborated by the statement of
her aunt and cousin and also further supported by the
complainant. Countering the same, accused had put up the
defence that the neighbor Chand Khan (DW-1) has stated that
there being animosity from four to five years between two
families since the accused father has testified against the
complainant’s uncle (vide paragraph 51 of the trial court
judgment).
5. As to whether this amounts to contradiction or otherwise,
is an issue which will have to be examined by the appellate
court while re-appreciating and evaluating the entire
evidence of the prosecution laid before the trial court. The
appeal being of the year 2024, chances of said appeal being
disposed of in near future is very bleak. Appellant has
already undergone sentence of about two years.
2 SLP(CRL.) NO.1598 OF 2026
6. Hence, we are of the considered view that sentence imposed
upon the appellant by the trial court vide judgment dated
05.11.2024 deserves to be suspended and accordingly it is
suspended and appellant is ordered to be enlarged on bail on
such terms and conditions as the jurisdictional trial court
may impose.
7. Hence, appeal stands allowed. Pending application(s), if
any, shall stand disposed of.
………………J.
(ARAVIND KUMAR)
………………J.
(PRASANNA B. VARALE)
New Delhi;
April 06, 2026.
3 SLP(CRL.) NO.1598 OF 2026
ITEM NO.11 COURT NO.16 SECTION II-E
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.) No. 1598/2026
[Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated 18-
12-2025 in IA No. 25936/2025 passed by the High Court of
Madhya Pradesh at Gwalior]
SONU Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH & ANR. Respondent(s)
IA No. 28015/2026 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING C/C OF THE IMPUGNED
JUDGMENT and IA No. 28016/2026 – EXEMPTION FROM FILING O.T.
Date : 06-04-2026 This matter was called on for hearing
today.
CORAM : HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ARAVIND KUMAR
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE PRASANNA B. VARALE
For Petitioner(s) :Mr. Manish Tiwari , AOR
Mr. Manish Tiwari, Adv.
Mr. Gaurav Suryawanshi, Adv.
Mr. Prashanth Dixit, Adv.
Mr. Vinay Pratap Singh, Adv.
Mr. Prabhu Singh, Adv.
For Respondent(s) :Mr. Aditya Vaibhav Singh Ga, Adv.
Mr. Gautam Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Yashraj Singh Bundela, AOR
Mrs. Pratima Singh, Adv.
Mr. Arpit Garg, Adv.
4 SLP(CRL.) NO.1598 OF 2026
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
1. Leave granted.
2. Appeal is allowed in terms of the Signed Order
placed on the file.
3. Pending application(s), if any, shall stand
disposed of.
(RASHI GUPTA) (AVGV RAMU)
COURT MASTER (SH) COURT MASTER (NSH)
5 SLP(CRL.) NO.1598 OF 2026
