The Bombay high court (HC) last week granted temporary bail to a murder convict until December 31 on the ground that he is a senior citizen (65) and is at high risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2, which causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The two-member HC division bench, comprising Justices SS Shinde and Surendra Tavade, refused to grant regular bail to the murder convict, Sitaram Kamble, as it was not in a position to scrutinise the complete evidence in his plea for temporary bail.
It, however, took note of the fact that Kamble (65) is a senior citizen and, as a result, “very vulnerable if he is infected with SARS-CoV-2”.
The bench said: “In such condition, the applicant can be released on temporary bail for a limited period.”
Earlier in November 2014, the Ratnagiri sessions court had convicted Kamble for life for the murder of a neighbour on February 1, 2013. The convict had killed his neighbour because of an illicit affair between his son and the murder victim’s wife.
He had moved HC seeking regular bail during the pendency of his appeal against the conviction.
It was argued on his behalf that the conviction under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was not sustainable in law, as the convict had inflicted a single blow of scythe in a fit of rage, and he did not act in a cruel or unusual manner.
The Bombay high court (HC) last week granted temporary bail to a murder convict until December 31 on the ground that he is a senior citizen (65) and is at high risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2, which causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
The two-member HC division bench, comprising Justices SS Shinde and Surendra Tavade, refused to grant regular bail to the murder convict, Sitaram Kamble, as it was not in a position to scrutinise the complete evidence in his plea for temporary bail.
It, however, took note of the fact that Kamble (65) is a senior citizen and, as a result, “very vulnerable if he is infected with SARS-CoV-2”.
The bench said: “In such condition, the applicant can be released on temporary bail for a limited period.”
Earlier in November 2014, the Ratnagiri sessions court had convicted Kamble for life for the murder of a neighbour on February 1, 2013. The convict had killed his neighbour because of an illicit affair between his son and the murder victim’s wife.
He had moved HC seeking regular bail during the pendency of his appeal against the conviction.
It was argued on his behalf that the conviction under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was not sustainable in law, as the convict had inflicted a single blow of scythe in a fit of rage, and he did not act in a cruel or unusual manner.
His lawyer, advocate Payoshi Roy, pointed out that the act had shown that since the convict had no intention to kill the deceased, at best it could be a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder attracting maximum punishment up to 10 years, and urged the court to release him on bail during the pendency of his appeal, as he had already served seven years in jail.
Additional public prosecutor FR Shaikh opposed the plea. He argued that there are three eye-witnesses to the incident and the trial court had convicted him for the murder because the convict had inflicted a fatal blow with the sharp weapon on the chest of the deceased.
HC refused to consider the plea for regular bail on the ground that it can be done only after scrutinising the complete evidence on record.
The bench, however, granted Kamble temporary bail until December 31 and ordered him to report to the prison on January 1, 2021.
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