The Supreme Court said ;it cannot take lenient view in awarding sentence on the ground of sympathy or delay, particularly, if it relates to distribution of essential commodities under any scheme of the government intended to benefit the public at large .
A bench of justices P Sathasivam and Ranjan Gogoi gave the ruling while dismissing the appeal of a fair price shop owner , against his conviction and 6-month jail term under the section 409 (breach of trust) of the IPC for misappropriating 67.65 quintals of rice meant for public distribution under the Food For Work Scheme (FFWS) in 2002.