BENGALURU: Whenever an accused is convicted of murder under section 302 of Indian Penal Code, trial courts have no option but to impose a sentence lesser than life imprisonment, the high court has said.
The court’s observation came when it noticed that the prime accused in a murder case was awarded less then seven years of rigorous imprisonment while accused no. 2 in the same case was sentenced to life by the trial court at Chikkaballapura. Both had been held guilty in the case.
A division bench comprising Justices B Veerappa and K Natarajan pointed out that section 302 of IPC states that whoever commits murder should be punished with death or life imprisonment and should also be liable to penalty.
“Such being the case, awarding punishment lesser than the minimum sentence of life is impermissible in law. The trial court without applying its mind in the proper perspective and without following the mandate of provisions of section 302 of IPC, strangely imposed punishment of seven years for conviction of accused no. 1 for the offence punishable under section 302 of IPC,” the bench said. However, giving the benefit of doubt, the bench acquitted Gulnaz, accused no.2, who had been sentenced to life for killing her husband.
The bench noted that since all relatives of the deceased turned hostile and also the case was built upon voluntary statement of the prime accused, it has to be inferred that it was not proved beyond all reasonable doubts.