Execution of the death sentence will be subject to confirmation by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. (Representational Image)

The court of Additional Sessions Judge Kapurthala Rajwinder Kaur sentenced Baljinder Kumar alias Kala to death under Section 302 IPC for murdering four family members including his children, wife and mother-in-law. He also sentenced Kala to pay a fine of Rs 2,00,000, and undergo rigorous imprisonment for a year under Section 302 IPC if he defaults.

Execution of the death sentence will be subject to confirmation by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In case his death sentence is not confirmed by the High Court, he is further sentenced under sections 308 and 325 IPC to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years and pay a fine of Rs 50,000 and in default of payment of fine under each section.

Kala had killed his one and half-year-old son Harsh, four-year-old daughter Sumani Kumari, wife Seema Rani and sister-in-law Reena Rani and assaulting two others including Harry and Parkash Kaka Tari on November 28, 2013. The accused had a matrimonial dispute with his wife, who had left his home and gone to her parents.

The convict had demanded Rs 35,000 from his in-laws, and when they could not meet his demand, he went and attacked them with sharp-edged weapons on the night of November 28, 2013 at their home in Kotrani village near Phagwara.

All sentences shall run consecutively in case the death sentence is not confirmed by High Court. Of the fine imposed upon the convict, 2/3rd will be paid as compensation to the victim Manjit Kaur, Kala’s mother-in-law, as well as the injured, in equal proportion. A copy of the judgment will also be sent to the District Legal Services Authority to pay compensation to the victim and injured. In the meantime, the convict be committed to jail under warrant.

Advocate Lakhvir Singh was pleading the case stating that the victim’s family is very poor.