PATNA, July 4 -- The Patna high court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of a retired judicial officer and a practising advocate of a trial court in a 2005 assault case related to a land dispute, but reduced their sentence to the period already undergone. "Taking an overall view, the trial court judgment of conviction and April 19, 2014 order of sentence convicting the appellants under Section 323/34 of the Indian Penal Code, does not warrant interference so far as the finding of conviction is concerned," observed the bench of Justice Purnendu Singh. Dismissing the appeal filed by retired judicial officer Yogendra Ram, advocate Binod Kumar and two of their family members against a 2014 trial court judgment, the court, however, reduced their sentence to the period already undergone. "With regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and the period already undergone by the appellants, the sentence awarded to the appellants is modified and reduced to the period already undergone by them and in case the appellants have already undergone the modified sentence, they shall be set at liberty forthwith, unless required in connection with any other case," the bench added. The court said that from the evidence available on record, the alleged occurrence was a fallout of the existing land dispute and previous litigations between the parties, but merely because there was prior enmity between the parties, the testimony of the injured informant cannot be discarded, rather such enmity may constitute a motive for the occurrence itself. "The trial court has rightly appreciated the evidence on record and correctly convicted the appellants under Section 323 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code, and no interference with the impugned judgment of conviction and order of sentence is warranted....