Appellant was awaiting justice for 16 years, Life Sentence reduced to period undergone with Rs.7 lakhs fine

April 11, 2019:

Delhi High Court has has given some reprieve to a person awaiting disposal of his appeal filed against his conviction for murder, the appeal being pending for last about 16 years. The accused was convicted by trial court and was sentence to life.

Justice Hima Kohli speaking for a two judges bench has passed the judgment titled JAGRAJ SINGH vs STATE OF DELHI on 05.04.2019.

The HC found that there was a sudden fight that broke between the appellant and the deceased without any premeditation, resulting in death. The appellant did not take undue advantage of the situation or act in a cruel or unusual manner. At the same time, it can be said that the appellant had sufficient knowledge that his action was likely to cause death.

Therefore, the offence committed by him is held to be “culpable homicide not amounting to murder”, punishable under Part I of Section 304 IPC. Accordingly, the conviction of the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC is modified and he is convicted under Section 304 Part I IPC.

The High court then list mitigating and aggravating circumstances in following manner:

The mitigating circumstances highlighted by the learned defence counsel are as follows:-

(i) That the appellant was about 42 years of age on the date of the incident. He was a married man, having two small children. We are informed that by now, the elder daughter has got married and the younger one has completed her graduation. At that point in time, he was employed as a Sports Coach in a private school and is continuing to work on the same post even now.

(ii) That the appellant has no previous criminal record, nor has he been involved in any other criminal case in all this duration.

(iii) The appellant had undergone sentence for a period of 05 years 07 months and 18 days as on 12.7.2006 and also earned remission for a period of 1 year and 25 days. His jail conduct was satisfactory throughout.

(iv) Prolonged trial in the present case has caused immense prejudice to the appellant whose normal life has remained disrupted and under suspended animation over the past almost two decades.

The aggravating circumstances of the case are that-

(i) The deceased had died at the prime of his life, at the age of 39 years.

(ii) The deceased was married at that time and had a wife and two children to support.

(iii) The appellant was aware of the fact that the deceased was accompanied by his wife and two small children, who were with him in the Maruti car at the time of the incident but he did not act in a humane manner by trying to help him.

(iv) Instead of extending a helping hand and rushing the victim to the hospital for medical treatment, the appellant fled from the spot, only to be arrested by the police on the next day.

Ultimately, the HC reduced the imprisonment and enhanced the fine as “In our opinion, in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the present case, where the appellant has undergone sentence for almost seven years, interest of justice would be adequately met if he is sentenced for the period already undergone by him. However, the fine of Rs.5,000/- imposed upon the appellant is enhanced to Rs.7 lakhs and in default, he shall undergo simple imprisonment for a period of three years. The fine imposed upon the appellant shall be deposited before the trial court within two weeks from today. In the facts and circumstances of this case, we further direct that the fine amount of Rs.7 lakhs shall be treated as compensation payable to the wife and children of the deceased. The trial court and the SHO, Police Station: Patel Nagar shall ensure that the said amount of Rs.7 lakhs is paid to the wife and children of the deceased at the earliest”.

Read the judgment here:

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